Arctic Monkeys – Artist Profile

Sheffield’s Arctic Monkeys quickly went from being an internet sensation to one of the biggest and most popular bands in the UK, in little over a calendar year. The band’s combination of Strokes-like hooks and Oasis swagger, coupled with singer Alex Turner’s sharp wordplay and distinctive Northern accent, saw their debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ become the fastest selling debut in UK chart history.

Propelled by the irresistible single ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ the album won many critics awards as well as achieving preposterous sales for a fledgling band barely into their teens. Since then, the Monkeys have had to deal with almost as much hype (and scorn) as their American cousins The Strokes, and have dealt with it all reasonably well. Following on from 2007’s generally well received sophomore effort Favourite Worst Nightmare, the band decamped to the USA to work on the experimental- but less successful- Josh Homme produced Humbug, which they released two years later. Most recently the band has released and toured extensively 2011’s return to hard rock, Suck It And See. And in between recording with the Monkeys, frontman Turner has also found time to work on his side project, The Last Shadow Puppets.

Artic Monkeys are touring this January, so make sure you check out www.bbmlive.com for further details.