"Suck It and See" is a song by English band Arctic Monkeys. It was released on 31 October 2011 by Domino Recording Company as the third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

and title track of their fourth studio album ''

Suck It and See ''Suck It and See'' is the fourth studio album by English rock band Arctic Monkeys, released on 6 June 2011 by Domino Recording Company. It was produced by the band's longtime collaborator James Ford and was recorded at Sound City Studios in ...

.'' Produced by James Ford and written by Alex Turner it was recorded at Sound City, Los Angeles in early 2011. The song was released via MP3 digital download and 7" vinyl with the song "Evil Twin" appearing as a B-side. It is one of the rare instances that a B-side for a single has charted higher than the single itself on release due to downloads, with "Suck It and See" reaching number 149 and "Evil Twin" reaching number 114 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Background

Turner started writing the song, while working on the recording of the ''

Submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

'' soundtrack. Turner described the melody and the chorus as "quite Beach Boys-y" which he was listening to a lot at the time. They chose it as the title track towards the end of the recording. The song contains a reference to the English beverage

Dandelion and burdock Dandelion and burdock is a beverage consumed in the British Isles since the Middle Ages. It was originally a type of light mead but over the years has evolved into the carbonated soft drink commercially available today. Traditionally, it was mad ...

. Of the reference, Turner said, "Something I like the idea of is putting colloquialisms where they feel strange – especially in some of the other tunes like the fuzzy, heavier ones, it feels quite funny when you can drop in something very British next to ‘

Raw Power ''Raw Power'' is the third studio album by American rock band the Stooges (credited as Iggy and the Stooges), released on February 7, 1973 by Columbia Records. The album departed from the "groove-ridden, feel-based songs" of the band's first two r ...

’ guitars." For a while the band thought of calling the track "I'm a Fool for You".

Live performances

"Suck It and See" was first played live at an acoustic set for 102.1 the Edge in Toronto on 22 May 2011, and performed for a full audience a day later, at their concert in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada. The song was performed throughout their 2011–2012 tour, generally towards the end of the setlist. It was also played during the ''

AM Tour AM Tour was the fifth headlining concert tour by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, launched in support of their fifth studio album, '' AM'' (2013). The tour began on 22 May 2013 in Ventura, United States at Ventura Theatre and concluded o ...

''. After an eight-year absence, "Suck It and See" was brought back for '' The Car Tour'' on 24 April 2023, at their concert in TipsArena Linz, Austria. B-side "Evil Twin", had its live debut at their show on 4 October 2011, at

The Pageant The Pageant (also called The Pageant Concert Nightclub) is a popular American nightclub in St. Louis, Missouri. Built as a dedicated nightclub, The Pageant first opened its doors on October 19, 2000. It was named for a "long-gone Pageant movie ...

in St. Louis. The song was played numerous times throughout 2011–2012 and the ''

''. During their show at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

in London, on 29 October 2012, Alex Turner introduced the song by dedicating it to friend and fellow

Last Shadow Puppets The Last Shadow Puppets are an English supergroup consisting of Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys), Miles Kane ( The Rascals, solo artist), James Ford (Simian, Simian Mobile Disco, music producer), and Zach Dawes (Mini Mansions). The band released ...

' band member

Miles Kane Miles Peter Kane (born 17 March 1986) is an English musician, best known as a solo artist and the co-frontman of the Last Shadow Puppets. He was also the former frontman of the Rascals, before the band announced their break-up in August 2009. ...

. He did the same three months later, at their concert in Melbourne's Festival Hall where he said: "Wanna play this new song its called "Evil Twin", dedicated to Mr. Miles Kane, cause he's mine."

Music video

The music video for the single premiered on 16 September 2011 and for "Evil Twin" premiered on 27 October 2011 on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Both videos were directed by Focus Creeps, and are the first, and second parts of a trilogy that ends with "

Black Treacle Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour f ...

." The video for "Suck It and See" tells a narrative story of a biker (drummer

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 ...

) and his relationship with a lover, portrayed by American model Breana McDow. The video is set in California and mocks the macho nature of American biker culture. It has also been suggested that the video is a

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...

response to criticism that the band's sound has become too "Americanised". Alex Turner briefly appears in a cameo. The video for Evil Twin, features more scenes of the characters in the desert, interspersed with footage of McDow and Helders on vacation. Aaron Brown of Focus Creeps said the video was inspired by

a documentary A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

on the life of musician Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister. In it, Lemmy tells the story of his first true love, a girl he dated when he was seventeen, who later died of a heroin overdose. Based on this story, they created the storyline around what would have happened if the girl never died, and they actually became "outlaw lovers, riding motorcycles, and you know, breaking the law and stuff."

Track listing

Personnel

* Alex Turner – lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitar * Jamie Cook – lead and rhythm guitar * Nick O'Malley – bass guitar, backing vocals *

– drums, percussion, backing vocals

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suck It And See 2011 singles 2011 songs Arctic Monkeys songs Domino Recording Company singles Songs written by Jamie Cook Songs written by Matt Helders Songs written by Nick O'Malley Songs written by Alex Turner (musician) Song recordings produced by James Ford (musician)