Arctic Monkeys, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino - album review
For a second, take the band name out of the equation and ignore everything that has come from them before.
Arctic Monkeys are one of the biggest British rock bands of the modern era. They are arguably the biggest since Oasis. Definitely garner similar fan obsession.
One of the fiercest musical debates to take place on Twitter is currently raging on how good the new Monkeys record is. Diehard fans are flabbergasted that anyone could question frontman Alex Turner. While others are screaming in anger they have waited five years for this.
But all that really matters very little. At the end of the day, when you put this into a CD player, onto a record deck or press the play button on your laptop/tablet/phone, does it excite you?
For us, the answer was quite simply - no.
Music fans tend to fall into two camps - idolisers of lyricists and lovers of sound. We fall firmly into the latter. So in our book, from start to finish this is drab, bland and altogether pretentious. It encapsulates pretension with a capital P.
One Point Perspective, aside from that nice little scratched guitar riff that pops up from time to time, climbs little above elevator music.
The title track sounds woeful. Turner's voice sounds like a bad Bob Dylan impersonator while electronics do little to entice you in either. And if we are going to talk lyrics, at times here it sounds like he is reading a Tripadvisor review aloud as he types it out. It's equally frustrating with Four Out Of Five.
And then there is the gruesomely dark Batphone. But rather than do much to improve the record it just sounds like he is trying, and failing, to be Nick Cave.
There are some stronger moments for balance. Opener Star Treatment has the feel of a dingy American speakeasy as someone mourns their life choices over a brandy. Here the music and vocals unite to work well. It's got sleaze written all over it and sounds slick as a result.
American Sports, too, sounds eerie with that zipping electro over the top and piano and keys almost fighting one another. But these moments are few in number.
As stated - ignore the artist, put all preconceptions and hopes in the bin. This just isn't a good record, and is painful to make it all the way through. If that offends some people, then fine.
Rating: 2/10
Arctic Monkeys play two nights at Birmingham Arena on September 15 and 16
