Essay Example on Fourteen years ago in June The Arctic Monkeys played their first ever gig

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Fourteen years ago in June The Arctic Monkeys played their first ever gig Having formed at school the teenage band were performing at a pub in the center of Sheffield though their frontman and chief songwriter Alex Turner was not even old enough to drink in it Later that night when asked what his aspirations for the show were he replied Just to get to the end of the night and pull the bird that I fancied that I d got to come down Yeah that was it Despite the seeming lack of forethought and ambition the band would soon be well on their way to notoriety and success After a few performances in 2003 the band began to record demos at 2fly studios in Sheffield They recorded songs to give away at gigs and online It was fans uploading these songs on the Internet that spread the word about the band The Arctic Monkeys were one of the first examples of a band attracting commercial interest through this relatively new medium and soon after signing to Domino Recording Company in 2005 they were the poster boys for the internet music generation One year later The Arctic Monkeys exploded into fame with the fastest selling debut LP in British history Whatever People Say I Am That s What I m Not was unanimously lauded as a modern classic and the indie rockers behind it were widely touted as the UK s next big rock and roll band The lead singer and creative force of the Arctic Monkeys Alex Turner is a wordsmith who defied his years At the mere age of 20 even younger when he wrote the songs Turner placed the microscope on those events all adolescents experience and honed in on the minutiae of such encounters drunk texting lust and scraps down the taxi rank It was Turner s disillusioned commentary on such relatable subjects that proved universal In essence they were the majority of teenager s conversations set to music Consider the streak of rebellion layered throughout the album take for instance

From the Ritz to the Rubble which sees the song s nightclub queuing protagonist swap jumpers in an attempt to dupe a rowdy bouncer Proclaimed through first person narrative Last night these two bouncers And one of em s alright the other one s the scary one His way or no way a totalitarian these lyrics and the music that surrounds them created by Turner s fellow band members Matt Helders drums Jamie Cook guitar and original bassist Andy Nicholson provided young adults across the world with a soundtrack to their nights out and to the anxiety before and after them Effectively they captured the spirit of the youth Unlike their predecessors who went on to implode spectacularly they were not plagued by the kind of internal friction that typified the indie rock genre Despite the musical evolution the dynamic within the band as musicians and as friends has remained the same throughout We ve moved up a few gears and we re really playing well as a band he says but the dynamic between us has always been the same Whatever People Say I Am That s What I m Not has continued to do the same for a new generation and was only a starting point If anything the album is best viewed as the commencement of a musical journey that has since seen Arctic Monkeys travel from drug fuelled psychedelic music Humbug 2009 to pop Suck It and See 2011 and old school rock n roll AM 2013 Five albums in seven years is a prolific output for a 21st century rock band It must be gratifying for Arctic Monkeys and Turner to find their most recent one has taken them to a new level of success that by tweaking their formula they have been able to keep one step ahead of the game On the one hand I do think it s a craft and you get better at it he says but on the other it s not entirely like that

There is something that comes with practice in songwriting but I still think you need that other side of it which is kind of a law unto itself the only way to continue is to change but not completely There is a connection to the early days There was never a complete reinvention and going back to the drawing board When you contemplate this evolution and the influence they ve had generation defining greats of the past spring to mind Their ability to articulate youth culture is nearly unprecedented and their commitment to evolving as a band while remaining close as friends is both rare and impressive It makes you wonder will the Arctic Monkeys go down as one of the greats and one day be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame They certainly seem to be well on their way


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