Audio Rewind: "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not"

Maybe it's because Natalie and I can never remember to put new music in our car, but I've been listening to the Arctic Monkeys' first album nonstop. Which to anyone who knew me five years ago, this is no surprise.

What is at the root of my fascination with this band? Well, it's complicated. To begin with, Whatever People Say I Am debuted to out of this world reviews. Follow the link for a very terse summary. And try and make it through the second paragraph of this NYT feature without your jaw hitting the floor. As much as I'd like to say my preferences are a product of my own abstract thought, reading stuff like this as an 18 year biased me. At least, it got me to take the Sheffield rockers for a test drive.

If you've never listened to the band before, start with this album--it'll give you a general flavor and help you understand the band's thesis. They are (at the time of recording) young twenty somethings, dabbling in a sort of reflexivity where the music they perform at night clubs is, in fact, about adventures associated with hanging out at night clubs. But the AM's give nightlife in Yorkshire an educated voice that no other similarly minded music has been able to even remotely come close to duplicating [see Ke$ha, "Tik Toc" for a less inspiring example].

In fact, six years later, lyricist/singer Alex Turner's versatility in articulating the plight of the weekend warrior is the source of the album's staying power. It is impossible to listen (really listen) to the album and not marvel at Turner's subtle irony, his packed-with-meaning one liners, and the ease with which he operates as the reticent know-it-all. In "Still Take You Home" Turner makes abundantly clear two things: One, he can't stand the snobby girl who's cornered the market on everyone's attention. And two, he hates that he is craving to be noticed by her as well. And Turner is peerless in his description, framing the context with what appears to be just the right amount of complexity for a situation which, on its face, seems routine and very un-complex.

Sometimes, it's hard to keep up with him. Turner moves so effortlessly between conversations with the taxi driver and his friends (who are riding in the taxi) on "Red Lights..." that at first listen, the song seems nonsensical before it's cleverness is revealed. (Another example of this would-be-rambling-if- anyone-else-tried-to-write-it is on "From the Ritz to the Rubble." Somehow, someway, Turner takes the experience of being denied entrance to a club and turns it into poetry. Don't ask me how.) And moments like that abound on the album, each song with a gem or two to uncover.

And no, it is not 2006 anymore. But Whatever People Say I Am's extraordinary shelf life comes from it's ability to frame the experience of young adulthood in a way that is universal. Devoid of synth, or Auto-Tune, or anything else that will so horribly date music of today, the Arctic Monkeys rely on a truer formula--blending high energy rock music with genius for the masses.