Get on Your Dancing Shoes

Once in a while there is a band that just comes out of nowhere to record a brilliant album and transcends the genre they record in. In 2005, that band was the Arctic Monkeys hailing from Sheffield, England. The band played an infections brand of pop-punk that was extremely popular in the UK, and made a pretty visible splash in the United States as well. There is just something different about the music they play that sets them apart from the thousands of other bands that play music that falls into similar genres. It's almost as if these guys had never played music in their life but still had all the musical talent, but the creativity of their music had been building their entire life.

The band consists of vocalist Alex Turner, whose vocal delivery comes from many angles, from a rhythmic verse to a faster more frenzied delivery with English accent always evident. The other members of the band are Jamie Cook, Matt Helders, and Nick O'Malley on guitar, bass, and drums respectively. Cook supplies many excellent riffs and intro's while Helders and O'Malley do an excellent job of keeping the beat and rhythm.

The CD opens with "The View from the Afternoon", which is a good opener which sets the standard for what's to come. The tempo of the song is fairly fast with Turner introducing the listener to his talent on the Mic.. The second song is "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", which could be considered the band's smash hit. The song has a similar fast tempo as the previous track, but this one is less serious and more fun. The song is very catchy and even through I've heard it a great number of times, it's still fun to listen to. The third song in an already exceptional opening trio is Fake Tales of San Francisco, another song with an up tempo beat and very singalong-able.

The rest of the album pretty much follows the formula set by the first three songs, but of course, the elements of the songs are different. But for the most part, all the songs have a fairly fast tempo, but each sound pretty distinct from one another. Some of these songs that really stand out are Still Take You Home, Dancing Shoes, and Red Light Indicates Doors are Secured. Two of the last three songs, "When the Sun Goes Down" and the closing song "A Certain Romance" are truly excellent songs that have multiple tempo changes within the song. A Certain Romance is yet another excellent vocal performance by Turner and the musical crew with him.

The two notable exceptions to the formula are "Riot Van" and "Mardy Bum", which have slower tempos and are pretty different compared to the other songs. Riot Van has a very slow tempo and is a narrative ballad about an incident with police. I like the song, but it just lacks the edge of the other songs on the album. However, I absolutely love Mardy Bum. The song features a very catchy guitar riff in the background with thoughtful and almost soft lyrics by Turner.

Overall this album is extremely solid and fun to listen to. Each song has a degree of creativity and is fun to listen to. The band has a whole bunch of talent and it is evident in almost every song on this disk. I highly recommend this CD to anyone who likes British Music or are fans of Indie in general.

The View from the Afternoon - 8/10
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor - 9/10
Fake Tales of San Francisco - 9/10
Dancing Shoes - 9/10
You Probably Couldn't See The Lights But You Were Looking Straight At Me - 8/10
Still Take You Home - 10/10
Riot Van - 7.5/10
Red Light Indicates the Doors are Secured - 9/10
Mardy Bum - 10/10
Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong, but... - 9/10
When the Sun Goes Down - 9/10
From the Ritz to the Rubble - 8/10
A Certain Romance - 10/10