Arctic Monkeys (band)

Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, backing vocals). Former band member Andy Nicholson (bass guitar, backing vocals) left the band in 2006 shortly after their debut album was released.

Arctic Monkeys were heralded as one of the first bands to come to public attention via the Internet, with commentators suggesting they represented the possibility of a change in the way in which new bands are promoted and marketed. Their debut album, ''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'' (2006), became the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history, and has been hailed as one of the greatest debut albums. It won Best British Album at the 2007 Brit Awards. The band's second album, ''Favourite Worst Nightmare'' (2007), was also acclaimed by critics and won Best British Album at the 2008 BRIT Awards. They went on to release '' Humbug'' (2009) and ''Suck It and See'' (2011).

The band's wider international fame came with the success of their critically acclaimed fifth album '' AM'' (2013), which was supported by the global hit " Do I Wanna Know?". It topped four ''Billboard'' charts and was certified platinum in the US. At the 2014 BRIT Awards, the album became their third to win British Album of the Year. Their sixth album, '' Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino'' (2018), was a major departure from the band's previous guitar-heavy work, instead being piano-oriented. It received a Best Alternative Music Album nomination at the 2019 Grammy Awards, their second to do so after ''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not''.

In the United Kingdom, the band became the first independent-label band to debut at number one in the UK with their first five albums. The band have won seven Brit Awards; winning Best British Group and British Album of the Year three times, becoming the first band to ever "do the double" (that is, win in both categories) three times; a Mercury Prize for ''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'', an Ivor Novello Award, and 20 NME Awards. In addition, they have been nominated for six Grammy Awards, and received Mercury Prize nominations in 2007, 2013, and 2018. Both ''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'' and ''AM'' are included in ''NME''s and different editions of ''Rolling Stone''s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time lists.

History

2002–2005: Early years and record deal

The Arctic Monkeys were formed in mid-2002 by friends Alex Turner, Matt Helders, and Andy Nicholson. Turner and Helders were neighbours and close friends, and they met Nicholson in secondary school. Turner, who had grown up in a musical household as his father was a music teacher, played guitar in the then-instrumental-only band, with Helders on drums, Nicholson on bass, and a new band member, Jamie Cook as a second guitarist. The name "Arctic Monkeys" was Cook's idea, and is perhaps a play on "northern monkey", a derogatory term for someone from northern England. Initially, Turner was reluctant when it came to being the lead singer. As time passed, Turner became the lead singer and frontman of the band as he had "a thing for words", according to Helders. The band began rehearsing at Yellow Arch Studios in Neepsend, and played its first gig on 13 June 2003 at The Grapes in Sheffield city centre. After a few performances in 2003, the band began to record demos at 2fly studios in Sheffield. 18 songs were demoed in all and the collection, now known as ''Beneath the Boardwalk'', was burned onto CDs to give away at gigs, which were promptly file-shared amongst fans. The name ''Beneath the Boardwalk'' originated when the first batch of demos were sent around. The first sender, wanting to classify the demos, named them after where he received them, the Boardwalk. Slowly, as more demos were spread, they were all classified under this name. This has led to many people falsely believing that ''Beneath the Boardwalk'' was an early album, or that the early demos were all released under this title. The group did not mind the distribution, saying "we never made those demos to make money or anything. We were giving them away free anyway – that was a better way for people to hear them."

The band began to grow in popularity across the north of England, receiving attention from BBC Radio and the British tabloid press. A local amateur photographer, Mark Bull, filmed the band's performances and made the music video " Fake Tales of San Francisco", releasing it on his website, alongside the contents of ''Beneath the Boardwalk'' – a collection of the band's songs which he named after a local music venue. When asked about the popularity of the band's MySpace site, the band said that they were unaware of what it was and that the site had originally been created by their fans. In May 2005, Arctic Monkeys released the EP ''Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys'' on their own 'Bang Bang' label, featuring the songs "Fake Tales of San Francisco" and "From the Ritz to the Rubble". This release was limited to 500 CDs and 1,000 7" records, but was also available to download from the iTunes Music Store. Soon after, the band played at the Carling Stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals, reserved for less known or unsigned bands.

Eventually, they were signed to Domino in June 2005. The band said they were attracted to the DIY ethic of Domino owner Laurence Bell, who ran the label from his flat and only signed bands that he liked personally. The UK's '' Daily Star'' reported that this was followed in October by a £1 million publishing deal with EMI and a £725,000 contract with Epic Records for the United States. Arctic Monkeys denied this on their website, dubbing the newspaper "The Daily Stir". However, Domino had licensed the Australian and New Zealand publishing rights to EMI and the Japanese rights to independent label Hostess. Their debut single " I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", which was recorded at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire, was released on 17 October 2005 and went straight to No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. Their second single, " When the Sun Goes Down" (previously titled "Scummy"), released on 16 January 2006, also went straight to No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. The band's success with little marketing or advertising led some to suggest that it could signal a change in how new bands achieve recognition.

2006: ''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not''

The band finished recording their debut album, ''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'', at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire in September 2005 with British record producer Jim Abbiss producing. ''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'' became the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history, selling 363,735 copies in the first week. This surpassed the previous record of 306,631 copies held by ''Popstars'' by Hear'Say, and sold more copies on its first day alone – 118,501 – than the rest of the Top 20 albums combined. The cover sleeve of ''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'', showing Chris McClure, a friend of the band smoking a cigarette, was criticised by the head of the NHS in Scotland for "reinforcing the idea that smoking is okay". The image on the CD itself is a shot of an ashtray full of cigarettes. The band's product manager denied the accusation, and suggested the opposite – "You can see from the image smoking is not doing him the world of good."

The record was released a month later in the US on 21 February 2006 and entered at No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' album chart after it sold 34,000 units in its first week, making it the second fastest selling for a debut indie rock album in America. However, US sales for the first year did not match those of the first week in the UK for the album. US critics were more reserved about the band than their UK counterparts, and appeared unwilling to be drawn into the possibility of "yet another example of the UK's press over-hyping new bands". However, the band's June 2006 tour of North America received critical acclaim at each stop – the hype surrounding them "proven to exist for good reason". The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in 2017 for selling over 500,000 units in the United States. Meanwhile, the UK's ''NME'' magazine declared the band's debut album the "5th greatest British album of all time". It also equalled the record of the Strokes and Oasis at the 2006 NME Awards, winning three fan-voted awards for Best British Band, Best New Band and Best Track for "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor".

Arctic Monkeys wasted no time in recording new material, and released ''Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?'', a five-track EP on 24 April 2006. Due to its length, the EP was ineligible to chart as a UK single or album. Furthermore, the record's graphic language has resulted in significantly less radio airplay than previous records, although this was not a reported concern according to an insider – "since they made their name on the Internet... they don't care if they don't get radio play". The release of the EP ''Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?'' just three months after their record-breaking debut album has been criticised by some, who have seen it as "money-grabbing" and "cashing in on their success". The band countered that it regularly releases new music not to make money, but to avoid the "boredom" of "spending three years touring on one album".

Soon after the release of the EP in the UK, the band announced that Andy Nicholson would not take part in the band's forthcoming North America tour due to fatigue from "an intensive period of touring". On returning to the UK, Nicholson confirmed that he would leave Arctic Monkeys and start his own project. He also said that he couldn't deal with the band's fame and success over the previous six months. In a statement on their official website, the band said: "We are sad to tell everyone that Andy is no longer with the band", also confirmed that Nick O'Malley – former bassist with the Dodgems who had drafted in as temporary bassist for the tour – would continue as bassist for the rest of their summer tour schedule. Shortly after, Nick O'Malley was confirmed as the formal replacement for Nicholson.

Arctic Monkeys' first release without Nicholson, the single "Leave Before the Lights Come On", came on 14 August 2006. Turner said that the song was one of the last songs he wrote before their rise to fame, and suggested that "it feels very much like it could be on the album". Peaking at No. 4 in the UK, the single became the band's first single not to reach No. 1. The band was re-united at the Leeds Festival when Nicholson met up with his former bandmates and his replacement bassist, O'Malley. Only the original band members, minus Nicholson, were present at the award ceremony when ''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'' won the 2006 Mercury Prize two weeks later.

2007: ''Favourite Worst Nightmare''

The band's second album, ''Favourite Worst Nightmare'', was released on 23 April 2007, a week after the release of accompanying single "Brianstorm". Like its predecessor, ''Favourite Worst Nightmare'' also quickly reached No. 1 in the album charts. Turner described the songs as "very different from last time", adding that the sound of some tracks are "a bit full-on – a bit like "From the Ritz to the Rubble", "The View from the Afternoon", that sort of thing". A secret gig played at Sheffield's Leadmill on 10 February 2007, debuted seven new songs (six from ''Favourite Worst Nightmare'' and one other). Early reviews of the release were positive, and described it as "very, very fast and very, very loud".

Meanwhile, the band continued to pick up awards from around the world, namely the Best New Artist in the United States at the PLUG Independent Music Awards, the Album of the Year awards in Japan, Ireland and the US, awards for Best Album and Best Music DVD for the short film ''Scummy Man'' at the 2007 NME Awards. It ended the year by clinching the Best British Band and Best British Album at the 2008 BRIT Awards. For the second year in a row, the band was nominated for the annual Mercury Prize.

On 29 April 2007, the day ''Favourite Worst Nightmare'' charted at No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart, all 12 tracks from the album charted in the Top 200 of the UK Singles Chart. The band later released "Fluorescent Adolescent" as a single, and it charted at No. 5, after debuting the song live on ''The Jonathan Ross Show'' dressed as clowns. The third single from ''Favourite Worst Nightmare'', "Teddy Picker", was released on 3 December 2007. It charted at No. 20 and remained only one week in the top 40 staying in this position, making it the lowest charting single for the band so far. Prior to this release the band released an extremely limited number of 250 vinyl under the pseudonym Death Ramps containing two of the B-sides from the "Teddy Picker" single.

In its first week of release the album sold 227,993 copies, emulating ''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'' in going straight to number one in the UK Albums Chart, albeit selling 130,000 copies fewer than their record-breaking debut. The first two singles from the album Brianstorm and Fluorescent Adolescent were both UK Top Hits. ''Favourite Worst Nightmare''s first day sales of 85,000 outsold the rest of the Top 20 combined, while all twelve tracks from the album entered the top 200 of the UK Singles Chart in their own right. By September 2013 the album has sold 821,128 copies in UK and has since gone 3× platinum by 2018. In the USA, the album debuted at number seven, selling around 44,000 copies in its first week.

Arctic Monkeys headlined the Glastonbury Festival on 22 June 2007, the highlights of which were aired on BBC2. During their headline act, the band performed with Dizzee Rascal and Simian Mobile Disco and covered Shirley Bassey's " Diamonds Are Forever". The band also played a large gig at Dublin's Malahide Castle on 16 June 2007, with a second date added the following day. On 28–29 July 2007 the band played their biggest concert to date with two sell out shows at the 55,000 capacity Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester. Billed as being the group's own 'mini-festivals' both date saw support sets for Supergrass, The Coral, Amy Winehouse and Japanese Beatles tribute act The Parrots. The shows were hailed as 'the gigs of a generation' by NME and were even compared to Oasis' record-breaking shows at Knebworth House in 1996. The LCCG concerts cemented Arctic Monkeys' status as the defining band of their generation, as Oasis had done before them. The band was also slated to play the Austin City Limits Music Festival in September 2007. Other European festivals include Rock Werchter in 2007. The band played two shows at Cardiff International Arena on 19 and 20 June 2007. They also played two London gigs at Alexandra Palace on 8 and 9 December 2007. On 1 September 2007 the band performed an intimate show at Ibiza Rocks show in Bar M (now Ibiza Rocks Bar) along with Reverend and the Makers. The band played their last show of the tour on 17 December 2007 at Manchester Apollo, which was filmed for the live album and video release ''At the Apollo

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