There’s this hot new band from England…
There’s always one, isn’t there? Unless it’s a hot new band from New York City. You wouldn’t describe Sufjan Stevens as hot; that’s because he’s from Michigan and his big album of last year was about Illinois. (yeah, yeah, irony — I know he lives in NYC now…)
The U.K. really specializes in hot new bands. It’s one of their chief industries. Some band you’ve never heard of is suddenly the biggest thing ever. Five years later, they’re practically forgotten. It’s been this way in all the time I’ve paid attention to the English music scene. I remember my first trip: the summer of 1983. The music magazines all screamed with headlines about the breakup that week of Soft Cell, which was apparently a really big story.
So now the new hot band is Arctic Monkeys, from Sheffield. They’re in the news today as achieving the fastest-selling debut album in British chart history, opening at No. 1 yesterday with sales of 360,000 copies of Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. They dethroned the reality show pop group Hear’Say and their 2001 debut album Popstars. The Arctic Monkeys album comes out in the U.S. on February 21.
They were also profiled in the New York Times yesterday, which is not insignificant. And their first two singles — “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” and “When the Sun Goes Down” — have been very popular on the British charts.
As I listen to them, I keep thinking they sound as if David Bowie had fronted the Stooges instead of Iggy. Think I’m crazy? Have a listen to a track from Hunky Dory (1971) and compare it to one from the Arctic Monkeys.
(The Bowie song is a real stand-out from an album that’s otherwise very glam-pop and fey folk. It’s Bowie channeling the Velvet Underground. It rocks.)
The Arctic Monkeys have this great pogo-ing bouncy punk-pop that’s straight out of 1979 — Wire, the Slits, the Buzzcocks, and so on. Listen to it today, before you get sick of it and condemn them as hype two months from now.
UPDATE: TMFTML took a fair shot at the Times; really at their headline. Me? I went the Lew Lehr route. Not saying it’s any better, just how I roll…
UPDATE 2: See the comments for some clarification. Also, see Arctic Monkeys videos here.
Arctic Monkeys – Still Take You Home — BUY
David Bowie – Queen Bitch — BUY
3 Responses
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LondonLee Says:
Hey, are you dissing ‘Hunky Dory’? It’s one of Bowie’s best albums.
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The Pop View Says:
Au contraire, mon frère.
I just read my assessment of Hunky Dory again and I’m afraid I gave the wrong impression. It’s my favorite Bowie album (I’m also fond of Low and Lodger).
I like the sci fi/social commentary of “Oh! You Pretty Things” and “Life on Mars?” “Changes” is just a great pop song.
My point was simply that the album as a whole has a kind of hippie vibe, with “Queen Bitch” as the exception. It’s got a wonderful sleazy feel to it.
So, I lay down a while
And I gaze at my hotel wall
Oh, the cot is so cold
It don’t feel like no bed at all
Yeah, I lay down a while
Look at my hotel wall
And he’s down on the street
So I throw both his bags down the hall
And I’m phoning a cab
‘Cause my stomach feels small
There’s a taste in my mouth
And it’s no taste at all -
LondonLee Says:
You’re forgiven.
I like ‘Lodger’ but I think I’d list ‘Young Americans’ as a fave along with the other two you mentioned. The first side of ‘Low’ is #1 for me.