Arctic Monkeys this morning – recorded at Shinkiba Studio, Tokyo on April 4, 2006 and preserved for posterity by NHK-FM.
Arctic Monkeys were one of the first bands to come to public attention via the Internet, with commentators suggesting they represented a change in how new bands are promoted and marketed. Their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006), received acclaim and topped the UK Albums Chart, becoming the fastest-selling debut album in British chart history at the time. It won Best British Album at the 2007 Brit Awards and has been hailed as one of the greatest debut albums. The band’s second album, Favorite Worst Nightmare (2007), was also acclaimed and won Best British Album at the 2008 Brit Awards. Humbug (2009) and Suck It and See (2011) received positive but weaker reviews.
The band achieved wider international fame with their acclaimed fifth album AM (2013), which was supported by the global hit “Do I Wanna Know?”. It topped four Billboard charts and was certified 4× Platinum in the US. At the 2014 Brit Awards, it became the third Arctic Monkeys album to win British Album of the Year. Their sixth album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (2018), departed from the band’s guitar-heavy work, instead being piano-oriented. Their seventh album, The Car (2022), received nominations for the Ivor Novello Awards and the Mercury Prize in 2023. It was their third album nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album, and their second consecutive nomination after Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.
According to NME, the band’s 2013 album AM “became the soundtrack for countless nights out, hook-ups and comedowns in every town and city of this country” by the end of the 2010s. Johnny Davis of Esquire wrote, “Every so often, a band emerges to define the times not just for a generation of music fans but for a whole era – the Clash, the Smiths, Oasis, the Strokes. Where Arctic Monkeys may be unique is that they have now managed that role twice [with both Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not and AM]” The co-founder of the band’s label Domino Records, Laurence Bell, said “They’re the toast of the playground again, every 13-year-old loves them. But so do grandads who were into Led Zeppelin. It’s very rare for a band to come out of the traps so big [with Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not] and then have another massive moment [with AM]. It reminds me of The Who and The Stones, where they did some pop singles early on and then moved into an imperial phase.” Other musicians have praised the band including Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, and rapper RZA. Bob Dylan says he has made “special efforts” to see the band live, while David Bowie, said they were “a nice solid Brit band.” Damon Albarn called them “the last great guitar band […] I don’t really know if there’s anything as good as that since.”
Okay – now you know, if you didn’t before.
Hit Play and dive in.
