After gaining a cult following for their transcendent album
“Fluorescent Adolescents,” indie-punk band Arctic Monkey’s fifth studio release
AM lives up to the band’s rising
expectations, while evolving into something more meaningful than previous
albums.
Though harboring a fan base that can easily be labeled as
“leather-jacket,” lead singer Alex Turner’s lyrical turn-of-phrase often results
in something more evocative than his song titles might suggest. Much of what AM is built off of is not only Turner’s
tactful though impulsive songwriting, but the emotional barriers he sometimes
neglected in previous albums. Take this line from AM’s lead single Do I Wanna
Know?, “Maybe I’m too busy being yours too fall for somebody new.” This
brand of more sensitive songwriting is not exhibited in previous albums,
accounting for a lot of the album’s commercial and critical achievements as
well as improving on the band’s value itself. What separates AM from its predecessors is the
emotional undercurrent seamlessly woven into the greaser-style sound Turner
spends most of his time working on. And along with their classically
indie-strummed guitar solos, Turner’s diverse (and nonetheless beautiful) vocal
range and the band’s innovative song structure that’s kept listeners rapt for
over a decade, AM proves to be the
most haunting yet of the Monkeys’ albums.
Though some might say it clashes altogether with their
slicked-back and stolid personality, the depth in which AM is built upon actually improves on the punk-rockers’ individualized
sound, and with the angsty spirit that the band is renowned for playing live, there
is no stopping Arctic Monkeys.
