I may have recently called Arctic Monkeys "overrated," but it appears that I misspoke. After hearing the brilliance of singles "Fake Tales of San Francisco" and "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor," I have to admit that they sound pretty damn good. Their album - "Whatever People Say That I Am, That's What I'm Not" - recently became the fastest-selling debut in the UK EVER with 363,735 taken home so far. Setting the record capped off what has been several months of massive hype showered on these teenage garage rockers. Kelefa Sanneh writes in the New York Times, "Hype isn't really the right word to describe the Arctic Monkeys phenomenon, which began with sold-out local gigs and homemade CD's passed from old fans to new ones."
The band is currently touring their homeland with Maximo Park and We Are Scientists, before hitting up the US in March. While UK buzz does not always equal American success (just ask Kaiser Chiefs), I would expect Arctic Monkeys' infectious dance-floor rhythms to make a few waves. Sanneh continues, "If only the music weren't so thrilling, there would probably be a serious backlash afoot." Agreed. "Whatever People Say..." arrives in the US on February 21. We Are Scientists - sans Arctic Monkeys - will also be playing US shows in March).::1 (Somewhat) Related Link::
1•Morningwood: I'm Not Believing the Hype
::MP3's courtesy of::
1•Live Music Blog
2•On the Pull Management
2 comments:
Hi Will,
Aside from the music, they are the most exciting thing to happen in UK Indie Rock for a number of years.
I've heard the band interviewed and they are desperate to play down the hype. They've just turned down the headlining spot at this years Brit awards (like your Grammys) because it interrupts their tour, and Domino, the indie record label they're on has refused to move their concerts to bigger venues at the request of the band.
Believe it or not, they're still giving away free demo CD's at their gigs, which is how they originally marketed themselves when they were just a small pub act.
And I'm going to see them in Birmingham in a couple of weeks.
The ticket cost me £15 ($25). I've seen them selling on Ebay for £120 ($200).
I think they are handling the hype very well, and that's cool they are sticking with a d.i.y. mentality.
I'm looking forward to seeing them out here.
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