With the release of their fourth album, Suck It and See, Arctic Monkeys have proven themselves to no longer be a group of boys trying to play as loud and as fast as they can. All of the songs, except for “Library Pictures”, exposes a more calm, paired down version of the band than we’ve previously seen. This is brought about by a change in frontman Alex Turner’s songwriting, which has been apparent in previous projects where he strayed from the band. What this progression lacks in aggression, it makes up for in maturity, allure, and the usual creative lyrics.

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The next single off of Arctic Monkeys’ new album Suck It and See will be released next month. Check out the video for “The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala”, which features scenes of the band walking through a field, California sun and palm trees and a cat-like model all broken up by live footage and all looking like it was shot with a home video camera.



Arctic Monkeys played a sold out show at Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield on Tuesday, May 24. They were supported by The Vaccines, who were well-received and brought Lyle Preslar from Minor Threat on stage to join them for their last two songs.

After making the predominantly teenaged, male audience wait for a half an hour after The Vaccines left the stage, the Monkeys strutted out to The Guess Who’s “American Woman” before firing into “Library Pictures”, a track off their new album Suck It and See due out June 7 in the U.S. Fast, throbbing rock song after fast, throbbing rock song was met with abundant enthusiasm from the New York audience. Frontman Alex Turner made little, if any, conversation in between songs, which was perhaps even too much for the young men standing behind me yelling “Let’s go! Let’s go!” each time the music stopped. Not wanting to disappoint, they catered to their male audience with speedy, rambunctious songs like “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”, “The View from the Afternoon”, “When the Sun Goes Down”, “Brainstorm”, and “Florescent Adolescent”. When they slowed things down for “Cornerstone”, which I was anxious to hear, many headed out…

I think calling the Arctic Monkeys’ new album art for Suck It & See minimalist might be an understatement. While the album art may be sparse we can expect big riffs on the upcoming album due to production by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. The album will see US release via Domino on June 7th.

Just days after announcing the single, Arctic Monkeys have released a new psychedelic video for “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair”. It’s a blurry, moody ride with cool, denim-clad Alex Turner and friends. Obviously, they’re going for the mysterious and mature mystique that borders more on metal than brit pop with this album. However, I will say that if you lose the sound, the indistinguishable shapes and Ashcroft-quaffed Turner may have you believing that you’re watching an early Verve video. Either way, I’m always happy to see anything new by the Arctic Monkeys and am very much looking forward to seeing them at Summer Stage in Central Park this May.

Please enjoy!

Listen to “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” the new single from Arctic Monkeys forthcoming album, Suck It & See, which will be released in the U.K. on June 6 and in the U.S. on June 7. You can really hear the influence of producer Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme on this dark rock song, which makes reference to the devil. Don’t forget to pick up the Monkeys’ exclusive white 7″ on Record Store Day (this Saturday, April 16). It will feature this song as well as “Brick by Brick”. It’s available for pre-order now on their website and ships May 30.

Although Submarine, the movie, will not be released in the U.S. until June 3, the soundtrack is now available. Written and performed by the unbearably talented Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, these songs capture the mood of what appears to be a film about two teen lovebirds living on the lonely British seaside. Including only six songs, the soundtrack exposes a paired down, slowed down version of the musician who is best known for loud, raucous songs with titles like “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor” and “Fluorescent Adolescent”. Most of it sounds like he’s trying to sing me into dreamland, except for the more upbeat “Piledriver Waltz”, in which he sings “I etched the face of a stopwatch on the back of a raindrop and did a swap for the sand in an hourglass. I heard an unhappy ending. It sort of sounds like you’re leaving. I heard the piledriver waltz. It woke me up this morning.” Turner’s sexy British drawl whispers other poetic lyrics, like “As long as you still keep pepper in the pill, you’ll find a way to spit it out again. And even when you know the way it’s gonna blow,…

Britain’s beloved Arctic Monkeys have kept us in suspense since their vague announcement at the end of 2010 that they would be releasing their fourth album come spring. Then today, just days after posting the video for the new single “Brick By Brick”, they let fans know via their website that Suck It and See will be available in the U.S. on June 6, 2011. The California sunshine seems to have inspired the classic rock sound of “Brick By Brick”, as well as the laid-back seventies ambiance of the video. Is this what the rest of the album sounds like or have they retained some of their discernible British quality? The band have said in the past that they recorded a lot of material for Humbug that did not make it onto that album, and also that they were listening to Jimi Hendrix and Crème at the time. Could the new songs have grown out of this material? “Brick By Brick” suggests that frontman Alex Turner’s voice has gone deeper with each album and that his songwriting has become more subtle and less assaulting. While the middle of this song includes a turn typical of the Monkeys, it’s…

The first track released from the Arctic Monkeys‘ forthcoming 2011 release for the track “Brick By Brick” finds the band diving deeper into classic rock territory. In other “monkey news”, Alex Turner will be releasing the 6 Track Submarine EP on March 15th with new songs from the film of the same name directed by Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd). The Ep will be released via CD, Digital and 10″ LP.