My Favorite Nightmare? Music So Repetitious You Can't Feel a Thing

The accolades following the Arctic Monkeys debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, have been well documented in their lunacy. I won’t waste your valuable time listing the astronomical amount of absurd claims made, but I will note that the blokes in the British media, and even a good portion of American lobster-backs, went above and beyond any sane levels of critical dick sucking.

It would seem to make sense then that the Monkeys debut would have left them a little sore and with significantly diminished capability to output worthwhile material. The youthful (the band members are primarily in their late teens) Brits clearly feel otherwise though, and in an effort to take advantage of their recent success released their sophomore album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, approximately a year after Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.

Anytime a band fires off releases within such proximity to one another they run the risk of plagiarizing their own sound and the Arctic Monkeys are no exception. Favourite Worst Nightmare is hardly an exact replica of its predecessor but the band’s development is minor at best. Again, this isn’t to say sonic developments aren’t noticeable, this is a band that is maturing before our very ears, but I’d compare this album to the sophomore efforts of either The Strokes or Franz Ferdinand. Both bands did in fact make subtle changes upon their critically acclaimed debuts, but in the end both held too tightly to the formula that garnered their success in the first place and fell face first into mediocrity.

The same result can be said for the Monkeys. As I stated, maturity can indeed be found in the sense that this is a band that has grown more comfortable in the studio. The production on Nightmare deftly advances the fullness and force of the band’s sound. Opening song Brianstorm rolls the listener into the action with all the ground shaking ferocity of a dose of thunder and doesn’t relent throughout. Likewise, Teddy Picker capitalizes, a nicer way of saying blatantly rips off, an already proven commodity, Fake Tales of San Fransisco, to amalgamate one of the most mind-infiltrating tunes on the album.

Unfortunately, these frenetic blasts of tenacious energy are all too common throughout Nightmare. Originality is sparse even within the Monkey’s own catalogue, and to make matters even worse Nightmare is ripping off a predecessor as well as itself. Granted, for those loyal legions who fell head over heels for front man Alex Turner and his Monkey’s well-crafted vigor in the first place, Nightmare will certainly not disappoint.

Perhaps the most noticeable progression in the Monkey’s sound is a Walkmen-like tendency to implement layered wafts of sonic weeping in the background of their songs. This technique gives an emotive quality to many of the jagged, danceable riffs the band became famous for. The most successful example of this method, which is used quite often throughout Nightmare, is found on the album closer, 505. Turner’s aching lyrics of a lost romance are given apt room to stir up legitimate emotion within the explosive yet poignant melody.

Still, this development is hardly utilized suavely enough to save the Monkeys from their own self-perpetuating weakness. It’s sad, because when the Monkeys do take a step out of their rather banal comfort zone on Flourescent Adolescent they’re able to concoct the catchiest, most enjoyable song on the album. Even though Alex Turner still commits to spitting hot fire rather than singing, a process that alludes more to the dude from LFO on Summer Girls than it does either of the oft-compared Gallagher brothers, the melody on Flourescent Adolescent is the single greatest manipulation of new-wave, dance riffs the Monkeys have yet to fall into.

Again, though, despite the occasional bright spot, Favourite Worst Nightmare is too derivative in nature to merit repeated listens. I give credit to Alex Turner and company for a select handful of moments that are sure to bludgeon themselves securely into anyone’s memory, but until the band discovers how to avoid the inevitable majority of average songs these Monkeys can’t be endorsed very convincingly.






Song Rating Scale

***- Excellent
**- Decent
*- Poor

1. Brianstorm- **
2. Teddy Picker- ***
3. D is for Dangerous- **
4. Balaclava- *
5. Fluorescent Adolescent- ***
6. Only Ones Who Know- **
7. Do Me a Favour- ***
8. This House is a Circus- **
9. If You Were There, Beware- *
10. The Bad Thing- *
11. Old Yellow Bricks- **
12. 505- ***


Great Music to Play While:
Renewing lingering Revolutionary War animosity