The indie rock band, Arctic Monkeys had scored a chain of achievements early in their career. Their two singles 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' and 'When The Sun Goes Down' quickly soared to the top position of UK singles chart. As a result, their first album 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not' was immediately sold 120,000 copies during the first week after its U.K. release on January 23, 2006, greasing the band's path to a U.S. release on February 21, 2006. The album later on gained the Best Album in the 2007 NME Awards. Following the worldwide circulation of their album, the scheduled World Tour was sold out in US alone, entitling them to serve the appetizer in 'Saturday Night Life' on March 11, 2006 and to proceed their music performances until July 8, 2006 in Kildare, Ireland. The British band, moreover, also stole the limelight at the 2006 ShockWaves NME Awards, taking 3 winnings out of 4 nominations, mainly for Best New Band, Best British Band and Best Track awards for 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'. What's more, their track 'When The Sun Goes Down' had somehow become so, inspiring for a British producer Paul Fraser who later on produced two short films in the DVD titled 'Scummy Man' which also included the musical promo of 'When The Sun Goes Down'. The DVD was released on April 10, 2006 and won the Best Music DVD in the 2007 NME Awards.
Began their friendship in Barnsley College, Alex Turner and Matt Helders were at the very start already in the same music direction. After getting musical instruments as their Christmas gifts in 2002, Turner who took the lead vocal and guitar and Helders who preferred the drum officially formed the band in Sheffield, England the next year, recruiting two other members, Jamie Cook to handle the guitar and Andy Nicholson in the bass. Kept practicing and playing along the tunes of The White Stripes and The Vines, they earned their first gig on June 13, 2003 at The Grapes, a pub in the middle of Sheffield. Employing a unique method to make themselves a new sensation, they would self-record demos and made them available on the Internet. By late 2004, their downloadable music attracted the attention of BBC Radio 1 and some UK tabloids, thus began to lure fans at the same time.
Known for their vibrant tunes and catchy lines, this band confidently released an EP titled 'Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys' which contained two tracks 'From The Ritz To The Rubble' and 'Fake Tales Of San Francisco' on May 30, 2005. Next, they were on to appear at the 2005 Carling Weekend, performing their best and gaining salute from the audience, some of which had already been devotees. The speeding success was seen too overwhelming for this band but the frontman, Turner claimed that they were just about time. However, unique as their camera shy personalities, they refused to sign with any recording companies at the thought that they got that far by their own effort. On contrary to the staement, they landed the decision to work under the label Domino in June 2005 because they liked the director Laurence Bell despite the other contracts that offer larger money.
Releasing the first single 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' on October 17, 2005, they were instantly NME's largely promoted band, provoking criticism that they were exaggerated. But the critics were tackled as the single sat on #1 in UK single charts and so did the
January 16, 2006 released second single 'When The Sun Goes Down'. Even though the recording of the album 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not' was completed in September 2005, the release date was stretched until January 30, 2006. However, due to the high demand and the high pre-order number, Domino released the set a week earlier on January 23, 2006. Sold for more than 360,000 copies in its first week, it was the fastest selling debut album in U.K. chart history at that time. Enjoying the meteoric rise, Arctic Monkeys was dubbed the next big thing in music industry.
It could be the sudden fame or lack of experience that the band stumbled upon its new EP. The band's 2nd release 'Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys' was penned by critics as having bad language and did not receive any heavy airplay. The band hit the bottom when shortly after the EP's release, bassist Andy Nicholson announced his departure from the band. Getting back on track, the band had Nick O'Malley to fill in the empty slot. With the new formation, the band took a full gear for a sophomore effort. 'Favorite Worst Nightmare' was released on April 23, 2007, marking the band's change of musical direction. Frontman Alex Turner described the new record as "very different from last time" and this change turned up to be not so bad at all. On April 29, 2007, the album charted at #1 in the UK Albums Chart, while all 12 tracks from the album charted in the Top 200 of the UK Singles Chart, with "Brianstorm" getting the highest at #7. This time the band not only gained fame in their homeland but also in States. Upon the US release, 'Favorite Worst Nightmare' entered Billboard 200 at #7.
Suck It and See (2011–12)
NME reported in January 2011 that the band were teaming up with producer James Ford once again, and would be releasing their fourth studio album in late spring at the earliest.Q magazine reported that the fourth Arctic Monkeys album would be of a "more accessible vintage" thanHumbug. Q printed edition 299 states 'It's the sound of a band drawing back the curtains and letting the sunshine in'.
The album was recorded in Sound City Studios in Los Angeles in 2010 and 2011. On 4 March 2011 the band premièred on its website a new track called "Brick by Brick" with lead vocals by Matt Helders. Helders explained that this is not a single, just a tease of what is coming and that is definitely going to be in the fourth album. On 10 March 2011 the band revealed the album is to be called Suck It and See and was released on 6 June 2011.
Their fourth album's first single, titled "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair" was released as a digital download on 11 April, and on Vinyl with "Brick by Brick" on 16 April for Record Store Day. On 17 April, it went to No. 28 in the UK Singles Chart. A version of the single with 2 B-sides was released on 7 and 10 inch vinyl on 30 May. The band allowed fans to listen to the entire album on their website before deciding about whether to purchase it or not. Suck It and See was then released on 6 June 2011, and went straight to No. 1 in the album charts. In doing so, Arctic Monkeys became only the second band in history to debut four albums in a row at the top of the charts.
The band announced "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala" as the second single to be taken from Suck It and See. Most of the stock was burned because of the London riots. A limited edition 7" Vinyl of the single was then released over the band's website on 14 August. The song only managed to chart in the top 200 in the UK, however reaching higher in Belgium at No. 25. In September 2011 the band released a music video for the song "Suck It and See" featuring drummer Matt Helders, and announced they would be releasing it as a single on 31 October 2011. In July 2011, the band released a live EP over iTunes with 6 live recordings from the iTunes Festival in London.
Arctic Monkeys embarked in May 2011 on their Suck It and See Tour. They headlined the Benicassim Festival 2011 alongside The Strokes, Arcade Fire and Primal Scream. They also headlined Oxegen 2011, Super Bock Super Rock 2011, V Festival 2011, Rock Werchter. and T in The Park. They confirmed on 7 February that they were playing two "massive homecoming shows" at the Don Valley Bowl in Sheffield on 10 and 11 June, support included Miles Kane, Anna Calvi, The Vaccines, Dead Sons and Mabel Love, clips from the show were also used in the music video for "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala". They played at Lollapalooza 5–7 August 2011. On 21 August, they also played at Lowlands, the Netherlands. The tour continued until March 2012.
On 27 October they released a music video for "Evil Twin" on YouTube, the b-side to their new single "Suck It and See". They performed the song on The Graham Norton Show on 28 October. The 4th single from Suck It and See, "Black Treacle" was released on 23 January 2012. The video for the single was released on YouTube on 5 January 2012. This video continued the theme from the previous single, "Suck It and See" and "Evil Twin".
AM (2012–present)
Arctic Monkeys performing at INmusic festival on 25 June 2013. The concert was a part of the AM Tour.
On 26 February 2012, the band released a brand new song titled "R U Mine?" on their YouTube channel. On 4 March, it went to No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart on downloads alone. On 21 April, the song was released as a single, with the track "Electricity" as a B-side, released additionally for the Record Store Day. The song marked a direct shift in musical direction in comparison to their previous album, Suck It and See, by incorporating a heavy use of falsetto and hip hop beats, and eventually became the inspiration for AM.
On 27 July 2012, Arctic Monkeys played in the London Summer Olympics opening ceremony, performing "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and a cover of The Beatles' song "Come Together". After the opening ceremony, their version of "Come Together" entered the UK Singles Chart. It later peaked at number 21, becoming their highest charting single since 2009's "Crying Lightning".
On 22 May 2013 the band started the AM Tour at the Ventura Theatre in Ventura, CA, where they debuted a new song titled "Do I Wanna Know?". On 1 June 2013, the band performed at Free Press Summer Fest in Houston, TX, where they also played "Do I Wanna Know?". On 14 June, the band debuted another song titled "Mad Sounds" at Hultsfred Festival in Sweden. Four days later, on 18 June 2013, the band released the official video to "Do I Wanna Know?" via their Facebook page. The studio version of the song, along with accompanying visuals, was also made available to purchase via iTunes, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 11. On 23 June 2013 Arctic Monkeys headlined Southside Festival in Germany.
On 24 June 2013, the band announced that their new album, entitled AM, would be released on 9 September 2013. The album was recorded in Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree, California, and features guest appearances from Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, Elvis Costello's drummer Pete Thomas and Bill Ryder-Jones of The Coral. Further, on 27 June, the band announced an eight date UK arena tour culminating with a homecoming gig at the Motorpoint Arena Sheffieldю The band played at the 2013 Glastonbury Festival on 28 June as headliners at the Pyramid stage to resounding success, playing 'Mad Sounds' and 'Do I Wanna Know?' from the forthcoming album 'AM'. Arctic Monkeys also headlined the 2013 Open'er Festival inGdynia, Poland and played on the main stage on 4 July. On 20 July, the band performed at Benicassim 2013. On 11 August 2013, the third single from the album, "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?", was released, with B-Side 'Stop The World I Wanna Get Off With You'. It debuted at no. 8 on the UK Singles Chart on 18 August 2013, making it the band's first UK Top 10 single since 2007's "Fluorescent Adolescent". The band streamed the album in its entirety four days ahead of its release.
Upon the release of AM on 9 September 2013, the album debuted at number 1 in the UK album charts, selling over 157,000 copies in its first week.As a result, Arctic Monkeys made history as the first independent label band with five consecutive number 1 albums in the UK. The album received widespread critical acclaim and brought Arctic Monkeys their third nomination for the Mercury Prize. The album also won the Brit award for Best British Album.
Alex Turner described AM as the band's "most original [album] yet," merging hip-hop drum beats with 70's heavy rock. The frontman has said that the song "Arabella" expresses the two styles of the album most effectively in one track. On AM, Turner continued to experiment with unusual lyrics, and the album includes the words from poem "I Wanna Be Yours" by John Cooper Clarke. Turner has stated that Homme's appearance on the song "Knee Socks" marks his favourite moment of the whole album.