There’s This Tune I Found That Makes Me Think of You Somehow When I Play It on Repeat

I wanted to wait until this band released a new album before I blogged about them, but I changed my mind. I’ve been missing them recently. I’ve also been listening to their music, although only their most recent stuff. To me, this is a signal that I shouldn’t wait. So here’s what I can tell you about Arctic Monkeys and what their future holds.

Formed in 2002, English rock band Arctic Monkeys consists of members Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar), Matt Helders (drums, vocals), Jamie Cook (guitar), and Nick O’Malley (bass, backing vocals). O’Malley replaced Andy Nicholson shortly after the group’s debut album was released. They were named by Cook who always wanted to be in a band called Arctic Monkeys. The band got their start by playing shows in their hometown of Sheffield and distributed their music for free. Hype by word of mouth generated for the band because of this. They drew a larger than normal crowd for a band playing the Carling Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festival in 2005. The Carling Stage which is now called the Festival Republic Stage is normally reserved for lesser known bands or breakthrough acts.

They were signed by Domino records the same year.They released their first singles, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” and “When the Sun Goes Down”, under Domino in 2005 and their first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, in January 2006. Their debut became the fastest selling debut album in UK Chart history. It sold 363,735 copies in the first week. The album eventually went on to win a Mercury Prize, awarded to the Best Album from the UK and Ireland. The band released the EP Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys? a few months later in April, but the explicit language on the record resulted in less airplay.

Arctic Monkeys released their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare in April 2007. Like their debut, their sophomore album peaked at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. It won them Best British Band and Best British Album at the 2008 Brit Awards. They spent the year extensively touring, including a stop to headline Glastonbury Festival.

The band took a short break in 2008. Lead singer, Alex Turner focused on his side project The Last Shadow Puppets. It wasn’t until 2009 that the band followed up their first two successful albums with Humbug, released in August 2009. Like the first two, Humbug also peaked at the No. 1 position on the UK Albums Chart. Prior to the third album’s release, Arctic Monkeys embarked on a world tour that included a headlining date at Reading and Leeds Festival and finished in April 2010.

The following four years brought more success to Arctic Monkeys with 2 more albums, Suck It and See and AM, both, like their predecessors, debuting at No. 1. Touring, festival appearances, and even a performance at the Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympic Games came in the wake of their fourth and fifth albums. Their fifth album debuting at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart put their name in the history books as the first indie band in the UK to hit No. 1 with their first 5 albums during the first week of release. AM even earned them a third Mercury Award nomination (Favourite Worst Nightmare was the second), a BRIT Award for Best British Album, and a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance for their single “Do I Wanna Know?”.

Since 2014, Arctic Monkeys have been on hiatus. Again Alex Turner shifted his focus to The Last Shadow Puppets and releasing their second album. Matt Helders joined in on Iggy Pop’s recent album, Post Pop Depression, and has been touring with the legendary rocker since. The question going forward for me and all the other Arctic Monkeys fans is: When will they release their sixth album?

According to an article published in July on NME.com which tried to predict the release of the sixth album as well as the future album’s sound, the world might be blessed with a new record by mid to late 2017 as long as the band gets in the studio by late 2016-early 2017. For now, it seems like we’ll be waiting at least another year or maybe longer. Glad I decided to blog about them now. I’m not sure I would have lasted that long.

Throughout the years, Arctic Monkeys sound has changed and matured. The change of their sound almost reminds me of the change in my music interests throughout the same time period from 2006 to 2013. The songs on their first two albums are faster and edgy almost in a punk rock sense (totally my scene and a high school junior and senior). The first album especially blends indie music and punk rock well. Then in certain songs (like “505”) on the second album and more so on the third album their sound transitions to something smoother. Turner doesn’t spit out the song lyrics as quickly. Their third album also has this unique eerie and mysterious sound. To me it’s the perfect album to listen to during the Halloween season. Finally, the last two albums are much smoother and reflect the indie rock scene of the last 5 years (again very similar to my music tastes in the last 5 years).

The first song I heard by Arctic Monkeys was “Fluorescent Adolescent” in 2011. According to my record of when I added songs to my iTunes account, I downloaded the song right between the point where I added Foster the People’s Torches and Adele’s 21 (a good moment in time for sure). I don’t remember if anyone recommended the song or if I found it on my own, but nonetheless, it was the first. Then came “Do I Wanna Know?” two years later. I listened to the band more after AM. That record spurred my interest in Arctic Monkeys. I received the album on vinyl for Christmas in 2014, so I basically started being interested in them at the point they decided to take a break. Then recently I’ve been listening to them all over again. It makes me miss them. It also makes me want new Arctic Monkeys music. So I guess, like the more dedicated Arctic Monkeys fans who have followed them since their inception, I’ll have to wait. In the meantime, I’m going to listen to their old stuff I missed because my music interests were elsewhere. Here’s some of my favorite Arctic Monkeys songs though, in case you’ve overlooked them altogether:

1. Snap Out of It
2. Do I Wanna Know?
3. 505
4. Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?
5. R U Mine?
6. Arabella
7. I Wanna Be Yours

 

T-Shirt Weather

I had every intention of writing a new Coachella Band Preview for today, but I discovered a new band last night that I needed to share first. It’s almost like a “Breaking News” moment. I may have mentioned this before, but every week Spotify puts out a new Discover Weekly Playlist (duh…Discover Weekly!). I subscribed to the playlist a while ago and found a bunch of new tunes because of it. Yesterday, as I was listening to the new playlist, I saw a song that caught my eye. The title was “T-Shirt Weather”, which made me chuckle a bit considering my deep love for the song “Sweater Weather” by The Neighbourhood (my blog post from the fall so you can see how deep my love runs). I said to myself “What is this? The new “Sweater Weather”?.” I was eager to check it out. Lo and behold, it’s a great song. It’s so great that I have now officially deemed it the new “Sweater Weather”. The song style is much different than the 2013 hit by The Neighbourhood though and it’s by a relatively new band called Circa Waves.

Circa Waves is a British indie rock band formed in 2013. The group hails from Liverpool and consists of vocalist and guitarist, Kieran Shudall, bassist, Sam Rourke, drummer, Colin Jones, and guitarist, Joe Falconer. Shudall and Rourke actually met at a music festival in 2013 and it resulted in the formation of the band. The band’s first single “Good For Me/Get Away” was released in December 2013. Their first EP, Young Chasers EP, was released in June the following year. They played festivals throughout Europe and toured through 2014. Young Chasers, their debut album (Yep, same name as the EP), was released in March 2015. The release happened around their performance at SXSW and a U.S. tour in the fall of 2015 followed. They played U.S. dates with Foals and Ms Mr as well as with The 1975 in the UK.

My first impression of the band was that they are a perfect example of indie rock. In fact the band could be a great transition for someone who likes punk rock or pop-punk and wants to get into indie music. While researching these guys, I read that they’ve been compared to The Strokes. In my opinion, that comparison is spot on. Their music style is much like American indie rockers, The Strokes. They also remind me of The Kooks at times as well. So if you’re a fan of either of those two bands, I guarantee you’ll love these guys.

This year the group has already booked dates at Governor’s Ball and Firefly. If you plan on attending either of those two festivals, I suggest you check out Circa Waves. Their music is both upbeat and fun, which will make for a great set in the the summer sun (hopefully it’s sun at least!). You’ll probably hear a few of these songs:

1. T-Shirt Weather
2. Stuck In My Teeth
3. Best Years
4. Good For Me/Get Away
5. Fossils

Coachella Band Preview: Alt-J

With 43 days left until Weekend One of Coachella 2015, music prep time continues to run out. That’s why today I’m previewing another band playing a bigger role in this year’s festival compared to the last time they played in 2013.

Formed in 2007, English indie rock band Alt-J has exploded on the indie music scene within the last two and a half years since the release of their first album An Awesome Wave in 2012. Their name comes from their symbol ∆ (the delta sign) which can be typed on a Mac by pressing alt-j (I actually did it to type the symbol in this sentence…so cool). Members Joe Newman, Thom Green, Gus Unger-Hamilton and former member Gwil Sainsbury (replaced by Cameron Knight this past year) created the band while studying at Leeds University. They eventually signed a record deal in late 2011 and released An Awesome Wave that following spring (although it wasn’t released in America until September 2012).

I first heard of Alt-J one Saturday morning in October 2012 right before heading out of the house. One of my favorite actresses, Troian Bellisario (star of TV’s Pretty Little Liars), had posted about the song “Breezeblocks” to some form of social media. I listened to it and downloaded it right after while I was waiting for my mom to be ready to go to where ever we were going that morning. I remember being in the process of downloading it when my mom said she was ready to leave. A day later I downloaded the song “Something Good”. Since that time I would hear an Alt-J song here or there and download it. It wasn’t until this past September when Alt-J released their Grammy nominated second album This is All Yours that I decided I needed to get the album on vinyl (ended up getting it for Christmas).

Although I knew about Alt-J for a little over 2 years I never went through a major phase when I listened to them constantly. I feel like they’re the kind of band you put on when you’re just relaxing in your room. Their sound is basically indie music with electronics that create this (at times) Arabian-like style especially in songs like “Fitzpleasure” and “Taro”. It could partially be Newman’s vocals that create that effect as well. Its definitely something to listen to. The hit off their latest album “Left Hand Free” has more of an indie rock feel, but still has that same unique Alt-J sound that is evident in all their music.

This year at Coachella they’re playing the Saturday date on Weekend One and Weekend Two in more of a headlining role. With their rise in the indie scene and the amount of sold-out shows they’ve played, it’s only natural to see them on the main stage this time around. It should be one of the highlights of the weekend for sure. With not much prep time left, it’s time to start checking these guys out.

Song recommendations:

1. “Breezeblocks”

2. “Left Hand Free”

3. “Fitzpleasure”

4. “Something Good”

5. “Warm Foothills”

6. “Tessellate”

7. “Every Other Freckle”

8. “Pusher”

9. “Hunger on the Pine” (As a side note, this song features Miley Cyrus…so let that sink in.)

10. “Taro”