“Don’t believe the hype … they haven’t hyped us nearly enough.”
That kind of talk elevates expectations of a band just high enough to make them unrealistic, and that’s just the kind of backlash that hit the Arctic Monkeys last year when they exploded onto the scene.
Those were the words of lead singer Alex Turner at a music festival in England, where the group played to a packed house on the “new artists” stage, kicking off what would be a whirlwind couple of years that saw the Arctic Monkeys take over British music, despite receiving an overall chilly reception in the United States.
The band’s debut album, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not,” was the fastest-selling debut in British music history. It won multiple magazines’ “album of the year” honors, and NME, a benchmark music magazine in England, called the Monkeys not only the best new band of 2006, but the best British band of the year.
In the States, Time magazine called the album the best of the year.
But the hype created impractical expectations and the backlash was immediate. A BBC story talking about the band’s lukewarm stateside greeting noted a review in the Oakland Tribune that began with, “THAT’S IT?” and proceeded to groan about the band failing to reach the heights of its hype.
The writer called the show likeable and admitted that “if I had stumbled into the concert without a head full of advance buzz on the band, I might have been somewhat impressed.”
Indeed, the buzz overshadowed what truly was one of the best albums from a new band in years. Arctic Monkeys, behind some raw punk rock guitars and drums and Turner’s witty lyrical observations of suburban life in Sheffield, provide some of the freshest stuff out there, regardless of how oversold it might be.
Now, the band gets something of a do-over.
Arctic Monkeys released a second album, “Favourite Worst Nightmare,” on Tuesday and will perform at The Showbox in Seattle on Thursday.
Nearly two years removed from the initial hype, band members hope some of the backlash has subsided. With a couple of trips through the U.S. under their belts, the musicians get another crack at breaking through on this side of the Atlantic.
Of course, it doesn’t help that the British press is still head over heels in love with this band. One critic told Reuters that “Favourite Worst Nightmare” is the most highly anticipated second album in a decade.
While the critic for The Times of London posited in a Reuters story, “How do you follow up the best debut album in years? In Arctic Monkeys’ case, with the best second album,” adding that it is “a dream come true.”
Clearly, lofty expectations are a monkey this band will not soon shake from its back.
Reporter Victor Balta: victor.a.balta@gmail.com.
Arctic Monkeys – guitarist Jamie Cook (left), singer and guitarist Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders and bassist Nick O’Malley – perform Thursday in Seattle.
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