Let me get this off my chest first: The Arctic Monkeys share exactly two common traits with The Beatles and Oasis - They're all British, and they're all rock bands. Let's end the comparisons there. No band will ever be the Beatles, and Oasis have two great albums while the Arctic Monkeys have only released one album to date, and its a totally different style and sound than Oasis. Comparisons to either of those bands are fruitless and unnecessary.

So what is this album then? Overhyped? Probably. But its most definitely a contender for album of the year. Why? This album takes everything that's good about the current crop of British bands (stop-start guitars, great hooks, catchy and danceable bass lines, great lyrics) and then turns it up to 11, so to speak. Lyrically, this band has the most in common with The Streets, replacing white-boy rapping and home-computer beats with extremely strong musicianship. What I like the most is that you can train your ear to listen to any of the parts of this band - the drumming is solid (far more so than say, Franz Ferdinand), each song is driven by terrific guitars and bass that will stay in your head as long as the lyrics will. THAT is what makes this album so impressive to me - the sum of its parts is stronger than any album I've heard in a long time.

Another point to make is that this album honestly has no weak tracks at all. Zero. Every song is, at worst, above average, while most could make equal claim to single of the year to this point.

Examples? Fake Tales of San Francisco, with its driving bass-line, shout-out chorus, and great lyrics... The View from the Afternoon, a perfect opener that sets the tone for the rest of the album... the unabashed rock and roll of Perhaps Vampires... in fact, this album ends so strongly that its ridiculous, with the great lyrics and varied sound of When the Sun Goes Down... probably my favorite track, From the Ritz to the Rubble (brilliant chorus, fantastic guitars, f&^cking brilliant... "You couldn't have done that on a Sunday, of course not!")... and finally the album closer, a Certain Romance with its opening drum and guitar attack before settling into a perfect UK retro-rock dance groove with a totally different sound, and great lyrics condemning the vapidness and bad behavior of today's youth even as the singer admits he has friends who are the same... this song has one of the best lines you're likely to hear this year: "Cause over there theres broken bones / There's only music so that theres new ring tones / And it don't take no Sherlock Holmes / To see its a little different around here"

I understand the backlash against this band (and so does the band, if one listens to their new EP), as they have seen an unfair amount of hype and hyperbole. The idea of comparing a band to the Beatles, after one album, is ridiculous. I understand the Oasis one a little better, as they are a more recent band, and Whatever People Say I am, Thats What I am Not has a similar quality to the first two Oasis albums, in that its hard to believe a band can burst onto the scene already sounding this polished and this distinct, and drop an album that is so solid front to back. So in theory, I get it. But musically this is an entirely different band, and they DESERVE to be hyped more than their compatriots (with the exception of Bloc Party, who are as good, but are an entirely different sound with a different mission). This band has no social or political mission to impart on us. This cd is, simply put, a great rock album, possibly the best of this millenium. Don't compare it to the best bands of all time, compare it to the current crop of what's out there - these guys absolutely blow away Hard-Fi, the Rakes, the Editors, Maximo Park, We Are Scientists, Kaiser Chiefs, etc etc. All of those bands have great albums and are some of my current favorites, but they aren't really traditional "rock" albums per se. The Arctic Monkeys have taken elements from all of these bands and infused it with what can only really be called traditional rock and roll, and I think that's what makes this cd so incredible.

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.7 (4426 ratings)
Price	$22.99
Category	Indie & Lo-Fi

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

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