So much has been written, spoken and, most importantly, blogged about Arctic Monkeys that it’s difficult to believe this is their debut album. The four piece’s incredible rise is, in the main, due to a Libertines-esque use of the Internet to spread their gospel without ever straying far from Sheffield.
But do they actually have the balls to back up the swagger? The answer seems to be an emphatic yes. Whatever People Say I Am... suggests that The Libertines’ marketing tactics weren’t all the Monkeys paid attention to; they’ve adopted Doherty and Barat’s jangling guitars and, if it’s possible, infused their sound with even more frenetic ska and throbbing reggae as drummer Matt Helders drives them on relentlessly. To limit comparisons to The Libertines would be unfair to the Monkeys and guitarist/singer Alex Turner, whose lyrics and spiky humour set the band apart. Turner’s descriptive and, at times, painfully funny observations of life in northern England are delivered in a biting monologue that meshes Mike Skinner with Jarvis Cocker while the band snarls and pogos around him like a reincarnation of The Jam.
Killer lines such as “There’s only music so that there’s new ringtones” (from the impossibly catchy 'A Certain Romance') reveal Turner’s brilliance as a social commentator – he’s equally happy writing about bouncers, prostitutes or taxi drivers. They also share a love of killer guitar riffs with label mates Franz Ferdinand, as evidenced by the impossibly catchy 'Fake Tales of San Fransisco' or 'Mardy Bum', and they’ve got plenty in their arsenal - or up their arsenal - to suggest they’ll repeat the success of last year’s surprise Number One single ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’. Perhaps it’s time to believe the hype.