Monkey - Jai Uttal

Advantages: staggering early sales, quality of the band at such an age...
Disadvantages: ...in over their heads maybe?

...Four Sheffield lads with guitars eh…. Who'd have thought it. The Arctic Monkeys tale is an intriguing one indeed. Having shifted over 100,000 copies of their debut album "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" on it's first day of sale alone, the album went on to sell a further 250,000 copies in the following 6 days - making it the quickest selling debut rock release in British recording history, eclipsing all the greats of the past in the process. It's a remarkable achievement for a band that were only getting their name out-and-about a mere 3 months ago, but thanks to much bigging up on the part of the NME (and other publications besides), Sheffield's newest rock quartet are set to become the band to be in 2006 - Stateside included. The bands tale is one of internet sites and demo releases; having passed about short demo... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Fantastic debut British album
Disadvantages: No lyrics, just cruddy pictures of the band!

...I have to admit I heard the Monkey's debut song (When the sun goes down) without realising who was singing it, then I was hearing all the hype about how great this band The Arctic Monkeys are. When I realised what style of music the band done I bought their album (after waiting a week or so for it to be released) and I loved it. ● Music Style ● For me, The Monkeys are everything that I hoped The Streets would be without any of the weirdness that is in some of The Streets music. Lyrically the two bands are very similar as the monkeys sing about issues that are very down to earth (eg fighting after having a few drinks, pulling in clubs) What makes this a real winner is the combination of really good lyrics (that are sung well) and also the music itself is done very well with some really nice guitar chords that follow... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: The music is quite fun to listen to, great to dance along to.
Disadvantages: A couple of filler tracks included here, very dodgy lyrics in parts.

...'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' is the super successful debut album from the Sheffield based indie band that is the Arctic Monkeys. The album sold over 360 000 copies in its first week of going on sale, it was the fastest selling debut album in the UK since Oasis 'Definitely Maybe' effort in 1994; an incredibly fine achievement for the four lads from Sheffield. Is it actually any good an album though? Well, it's not quite so magnificent as some people would have you believe, it's still a pretty decent debut effort however and if you're looking for a fun indie rock album then 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' is most definitely well worth listening to. The album comes complete with a number of highly infectious indie rock tracks; it's not perfect, but the music is great fun to dance along to nonetheless... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful