Given their vast stature across the British music it’s difficult to envisage a time when Arctic Monkeys just another newcomer.
Among the first – and arguably the most effective – group to emerge from the social networking explosion, the band’s early shows were packed with fans who seemed to know every word to every track.
Not bad going, especially none of them had been officially released. Three widely acclaimed albums later, Arctic Monkeys sit as one of the most influential groups of their generation – and they’ve barely touched their mid 20s.
With the band kindly acting as cover stars for this month’s issue of Clash Magazine we have teamed up with MFlow to guide you through some of the best tracks of the band’s seismic career.
1. Arctic Monkeys – From The Ritz to the Rubble – ON MFLOW
– This is the B-Side to their first ever single, which was released on just 500 CDs and 1000 7 ” records. This was in May 2005, when they were as yet unsigned, and would give demos away at concerts that would then be uploaded to their MySpace unbeknownst to them by their fans. When they became well known it was put down to the internet – while Turner and co. didn’t even know how to upload music.
2. Arctic Monkeys – When The Sun Goes Down – ON MFLOW
-This was the second number 1 single from the group once they signed to Domino. It is about prostitution in the Neepsend area of Sheffield, and describes the behaviour of a pimp or client with the iconic lines: “You can see it in his eyes, yeah / that he’s got a driving ban”. The single went to Number 1 in late 2005 and also went to Number 11 in Eire.
3. Arctic Monkeys – View From the Afternoon – ON MFLOW
-From the EP ‘Who the Fuck are the Arctic Monkeys’, released in April 2006 after their record-breaking debut album. The explicit content of this EP made it difficult to air on the radio, and this song’s popularity was hampered by it appearing on the EP. The song details the various players in a pub night out, from meretricious female limo riders to fruit machine chancers.
4. Arctic Monkeys – 505 – ON MFLOW
-People get jaded even aged 21. The track discusses how the havoc of touring can mess up your personal life. It’s a paean from the heart, so shot through with troubled doubt and so “mature and thoughtful [that the fact it] was written by someone barely 21 years old genuinely gives you pause for thought” wrote an impressed Alexis Petridis in the Guardian.
5. Arctic Monkeys – Pretty Visitors – ON MFLOW
-Taken from their 2009 album Humbug, the lyrics take on psychedelic themes, marking a change in style from song writer Turner as he matures dramatically. The song’s chorus features the killer lyric: “All the pretty visitors came and waved their hands and cast / the shadow of the snake pit on the wall.”
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