indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band
Arctic Monkeys
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, back ...
, released as the second single from their third album ''
Humbug
A humbug is a person or object that behaves in a deceptive or dishonest way, often as a hoax or in jest. The term was first described in 1751 as student slang, and recorded in 1840 as a "nautical phrase". It is now also often used as an exclama ...
''. It was released on 16 November 2009. Like the previous single "
Crying Lightning
"Crying Lightning" is a song by the English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, released as the first single from their third album ''Humbug (album), Humbug''. It was first played on Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1 on 6 July 2009 and was then made ...
", the vinyl was made available in
Oxfam
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.
History
Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...
shops.
Alex Turner
Alexander David Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is well known as the frontman and principal songwriter of the rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has released seven albums. He ...
told ''
Uncut
Uncut may refer to:
* ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship
* ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997
* '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...
'' magazine that he wrote this song, "one morning, quite quickly." He added: "There's something to be said for writing in the morning. At other points in the day you're a bit more defensive. I saw it as a challenge to write something in a major key, but that wasn't cheesy." It was originally written in the key of A major. In October 2013, it was sampled by the rapper
Dom Kennedy
Dominic Ross Hunn (born August 22, 1984), better known by his stage name Dom Kennedy, is an American rapper from Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California. Since 2008, Kennedy has released 5 independent mixtapes, most notably his 2010 critically accl ...
for the song "Pleeze" on his album ''
Get Home Safely
''Get Home Safely'' is the second studio album by American rapper Dom Kennedy. The album was released on October 15, 2013. The album features guest appearances from Skeme, Krondon, Ty Dolla Sign, Nipsey Hussle and TeeFLii.
Background
On March 25 ...
''.
Music video
The music video for the single debuted on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
in the UK on 15 October 2009.
The music video, directed by
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British actor, comedian, broadcaster and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he ...
, who worked on the videos of "
Fluorescent Adolescent
"Fluorescent Adolescent" is a song by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released as the second single from their second studio album ''Favourite Worst Nightmare'' (2007). It was released on 9 July 2007 in the United Kingdom. The son ...
", "
Crying Lightning
"Crying Lightning" is a song by the English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, released as the first single from their third album ''Humbug (album), Humbug''. It was first played on Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1 on 6 July 2009 and was then made ...
Alex Turner
Alexander David Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is well known as the frontman and principal songwriter of the rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has released seven albums. He ...
– vocals, rhythm guitar
*
Jamie Cook
Jamie Robert Cook (born 8 July 1985) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist and a founding member of the indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has recorded seven studio albums.
Arctic Monkeys
Jamie Coo ...
– lead guitar
*
Nick O'Malley
Nicholas Edward O'Malley (born 5 July 1985) is an English musician, best known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of English band Arctic Monkeys.
Career Career beginnings
O'Malley states that he picked up the bass guitar at the age of ...
– bass guitar
*
Matt Helders
Matthew Helders (born 7 May 1986) is an English drummer, vocalist and songwriter. He is best known as a founding member of the indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has recorded seven studio albums.
In 2015, Helders collaborated with Ig ...
Being released as an EP in Oxfam shops, the single charted at number 94 in the UK charts and charted at number seven on the UK indie charts. It also debuted at number seven on the
SoundScan
Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
singles charts for sales in Canada. One of the single's B-sides, "Sketchead", peaked at number 80 on the UK Singles Chart, fourteen places higher than "Cornerstone"'s peak position.