New Tunes From The Arctic Monkeys

So UK indie darlings the Arctic Monkeys are releasing their third (Junior?) Long Player this upcoming week. I got a chance to preview the album (you can read my expanded thoughts on the fame trajectory of the Arctic Monkeys over at Pretty Much Amazing). Long story short, I was pretty unimpressed by the disc – it’s pretty cookie cutter plan, a cross between Coldplay’s rounded edges and Arctic Monkeys original sharp corners. If I had to make a terrible non-relevant analogy, I would compare Humbug to that weird Microsoft Paint shape that isn’t a square or a circle, it’s somewhere in between. What is that anyway?

There are, however, a couple tracks on the album that caught my ear – specifically “Pretty Visitors”. It starts with some pulsing organ before breaking into the brash patter of typical Arctic Monkeys. The album was produced with the help of Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, and this song really shows off that influence – it’s darker, profane, and features extended drum solos.

This song encapsulates what Arctic Monkeys do best. They are the young kids who break bottles for fun, destroy hotel rooms, and hit on your sister. If they made an entire album of these types of songs, I would be singing their praises. Instead, I’m searching for my kicks elsewhere.

Arctic Monkeys – Pretty Visitors

For reference, one of my favorite older Arctic Monkeys songs – “Dancing Shoes”. It’s more lighthearted than most of their new songs, but still has that edge and spike that makes their jams so tasty.

Arctic Monkeys – Dancing Shoes

These tracks have been removed per the request of the artist.