Ahhh...Humbug

The quick back story. Arctic Monkeys blew away the UK with their 2006 debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. WPSIATWIN became the fastest-selling debut album in British music history, breaking the mark previously held by Oasis's Definitely Maybe. The album also won the 2006 Mercury Prize. The Monkeys blew up and even "Bet U Look Good on the Dance Floor" was a minor US hit. The critics loved them, across-the-ponders went nuts for them, and the American listening public for the most part didn't care.

Just 15 months after they released their debut, Arctic Monkeys dropped Favourite Worst Nightmare, the band's sophomore release. In the UK, the record's first day sales of 85,000 outsold the rest of the Top 20 combined. The album was clearly a step forward from what was one of the best debut albums of the last 30 years. FWN capitalized on the band's ability to go from aggressively, well-constructed full-on rock jams to quiet, moody ballads, all the while becoming a tighter and more intelligent musical unit.

Next Tuesday, Aug 25, Arctic Monkeys release their third full-length album, Humbug. I've been listening to it for a few weeks and I must say, I'm impressed. It took a while to really embrace the album as a whole, but the band continues to grow musically and stay true to their specific vision. This is a band that won't go away until it's ready. Teaming with their previous producer, James Ford (aka Simian Mobile Disco) and bringing main Queen of the Stone Age, Josh Homme, into the fold resulted in a darker, wiser, and even tighter group than before.

Humbug succeeds as a musical statement of where the band is now and where they might be going. "Dance Little Liar," "Pretty Visitors," and "Potion Approaching" all bump and grind with QOTSA inspired riffage and Alex Turner's witty songwriting. "Cornerstone"is an instant classic - Turner's typical tale of dark bars and darker women, but with the wisdom and maturity that spending three years as Britain's saviours of rock can instill in both songcraft and songwriting. "Dangerous Animals" should fail on principle alone; there hasn't been a good "spell-along" song since Toni Basil's "Mickey" back in the early 80s. The song doesn't fail, but instead, is packed with Turner's snotty sneer and fiery drumming courtesy of modern-day percussive God, Matt Helders. The rest of the album toys with heavy psychedelic tinged guitars, tightly-constructed rhythms, and succeeds in creating a new sound that the band wears well.

The album shows the Monkeys maturing and making music on their own terms. Humbug is the product of a band experimenting with new sounds, both confidently and defiantly. The hooks may not be overtly present, but as cliche as it sounds, the album does sound better the more time you spend with it. This is a band hell-bent creating music on their own terms. I, for one, have spent a lot of time with Humbug these past few weeks and am already anticipating their next album.