Today I am reviewing the Artic Monkey’s Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. This is the bands highly acclaimed, debut album.
The first track begins with an immediate bang as the band launches in to a straight up rocker. It’s a great start complete with a false ending, which I like. As I gaze at the album art (including a CD booklet consisting primarily of pictures and almost entirely devoid of any text), it seems clear the band has no problem promoting smoking. I have to admit that, though I’m not a fan of smoking myself, I do appreciate this classic rebellion against modern social conventions. The second song is titled I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor. As I listen to this track I can’t help but be reminded of the up-tempo rock style of Franz Ferdinand. Fake Tales of San Francisco is the third song. While I’m not exactly thrilled about hearing the same exact style for three tracks in a row, I do enjoy the lines “…all that’s left, Is the proof that love’s not only blind but deaf”. Dancing Shoes, is the fourth track. At this point, I have to say that I am starting to become disappointed. All of the songs are short, fast, and in the same vein. Song five continues this trend. While there isn’t much to be said musically because of this album’s simple style, I do like the creativity of the titles. This number, for example, is called You Probably Couldn’t See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me. I enjoyed the sixth track, Still Take You Home, a little more. By the end of the end of the song, I was amazed, but not surprised, to find the first half of the album coming in at under twenty minutes.
As Riot Van started the second half, I found myself starting to actually enjoy a track for once. With mellow, strummed guitar, at least it was something different! Unfortunately, it was short (even by this album’s standards). Song eight, Red Light Indicates Doors are Secured, saw an unwelcome return to fast rock. Nine on the other hand, starts off nicely and ends up being not too bad of a number after all! Track ten is enjoyable as well. Even so, I haven’t listened to a British album this short since A Hard Day’s Night. I particularly liked the percussion including the congas as well as the drum fills. Number eleven, When the Sun Goes Down, is decent as it provides a change of pace. Of course a solid ending and a lyrical nod to the Police don’t hurt either. Twelve utilizes a stream-of-conscious style of writing lyrically as well as an unwelcome return to fast tempo rock musically. A Certain Romance is the thirteenth and final track. I defiantly found it to be a more intriguing one as it included more interesting guitar work in addition to a more enjoyable ending. It was also refreshing to know that this band was capable of writing a song over the four-minute mark.
On the whole, I found this album to be significantly overrated. I understand that short, fast-paced, straightforward rock is not my favorite style, but even so, this record does not fair well when compared to other music in this genre. After giving it a few listens, I have found that certain tracks have started to grow on me to a certain extent. I still feel, however, that with out more diversity, creativity, and depth; this album receives far more credit than it deserves.
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