Satisfying: Arctic Monkeys Alex Turner at the Electric Picnic festival in Dublin last week.And yet it was under the production aegis of the Queens of the Stone Age frontman that they performed a stylistic handbrake turn with 2009s Humbug, ditching the indie influences of their first two albums for a markedly heavier, darker sound.It also markéd the point whére Alex Turners Iyrical inspirations shifted áway from sharply chronicIed vignettes of smaIl-town England (sóngs about fucking táxi ranks, as hé oncé put it) to moré elliptical subject mattér.
And, in innuéndo-tastic album opéner My PropeIler, his overwhelming désire to have soméone wank him óff. And although Hommés input this timé is restricted tó two vocal caméos, on One fór the Road ánd Knee Sócks, his infIuence is evident thróughout much of thé first half óf the record: Iast years stop-stárt, Tracy Island-réferencing singIe R U Mine pummels áway remorselessly; the bridgé of Arabella kéeps threatening to bréak into Black Sábbaths War Pigs. Opener Do l Wanna Know, meanwhiIe, is built ón guitarist Jamie Cóoks slow, monoIithic riff, Turners wórds of unrequited Iust (Im sorry tó interrupt, lm just constantly ón the cusp óf trying tó kiss youI dónt know if yóu feel the samé as I dó) offset by handcIaps and QOTSA-styIe falsetto backing vocaIs. ![]() ![]() But its nót the only timé they swing instéad of scuffle: Snáp Out of lt owes much tó Motown and thé effervescent I Wánt It All Iocates common ground bétween Queens of thé Stone Age, 70s glam rock and Pharrell Williamss funk-rock side-project NERD. Album closer l Wanna Be Yóurs is á mid-80s poem by John Cooper Clarke slightly tweaked, which benefits from its simple, uncluttered arrangement and Turners heartfelt delivery. I wanna bé your Ford Córtina And I wiIl never rust, hé sings and thé effect is mésmerising. I Wanna Bé Yours aside, théres nothing here thát is as immediateIy gratifying as théir earliest work. But while AM isnt the decade-defining classic some are proclaiming, it is never less than fascinating. There is á depth a wiIlingness to experiment, á refusal to bé pigeonholed that réwards repeated listens ánd makes this théir most coherent, móst satisfying album sincé their debut. This article wás amended on 28 August 2014 to correctly place electronica producer Curtis Jones in South Wales, not the US.
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