Suck It and See by Arctic Monkeys

Suck It and See. (Arctic Monkeys)

Well, suck it and see.

Album Rating: ***1/2 (3.5/5)

Arctic Monkeys, of all bands, know how difficult it is to create a follow up to a record of epic proportions. After their fastest selling debut album in UK, they refused to get carried away and their next releases were even more impressive. Their last record, “Humbug”, was perceived by many fans as a step in the wrong direction calling them americanized but they couldn’t be farther away from the truth. In reality, Josh Homme had succeeded in bringing out the best from these boys and helped them in attaining a zenith in their career which is very difficult to repeat, making that record a “Classic”. Once an album impresses you to that extent, the hopes from the next one are quite insanely high. This is exactly the case with their new release “Suck It and See”.

Produced by James Ford (who is quite a family figure in the Monkeys camp with his presence in all the previous records), “Suck It an See” has Alex Turner going for more spontaneous recording in the studio with rehearsal takes deliberately added to the beginning of few songs.  As promised, it’s definitely more “Poppy” than anything they have done before. Gone are the urgency of “Brianstorm” and “The View from the Afternoon”, this record sees them going further mature with their sound and finding a remarkable mid-career groove that most bands their age fail to see. Barring few songs, it’s safe to say that this album is not a punk record, rather it’s Indie Rock. Talk about a change in direction, huh?

The album begins with a riff which continues to the majority stretch of the song “She’s Thunderstorms”, probably one of the weakest songs on this record. Matt enters a few seconds later with groovy mid-tempo drums, something he has done quite brilliantly previously and routine bass from Nick before the compulsory explosions at the end. No sweat, nothing new. “Black Treacle” features Alex Turner binding a story of sorts with his majestic lyrics and Jamie providing hooks and delays to make the guitar talk midway through the song. 

Next track, “Brick by Brick” was the first piece of audio made available to us through a surprise release accompanied by a video. Upon the time of its release, it seemed fairly out of place. But on the record, it fits perfectly with Alex Turner declaring “I want to steal your soul, Brick by Brick” and mentioning the word “Rock and Roll” thrice in the song! Cliché? Yes. But is excusable since it’s a fun laugh anyway. Keeping with the tradition of creative song names, “The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala”, planned as the next single is extensively played live by them and begins on groovy bass (again) before an unsettling distortion arrives. This half is particularly upsetting for the listener but the last minute holds a Klaxons (also Ford produced) type chorus providing some respite.

“Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair”, the first single and rightly so, shows the inclination of the band from Punk into more Hard Rock with heavy distortions and a haunting riff. The chorus is particularly catchy and this is the closest they have gone to Humbug. Vintage Arctic Monkeys anyone? Enter “Library Pictures” with some sense of urgency in Alex’s vocal before an outburst and sudden fall in tempo. Clocking in at almost 2 minutes, this is most ‘punk’ they have gone. “Dog s**t, Rock and Roll”.
The classic case of tease and less show is “All My Own Stunts” which starts with an insanely catchy riff but becomes monotonous through the course of the song. Skip.

What follows next is the perhaps the best portion of the record with Monkeys getting Indie and finding better melodies, something that we got a glimpse in the previous records but confined in just one song or the other. Starting with “Reckless Serenade” which although seems like a filler, has a significant role in transforming the tone of the record to a more mellow side. “Piledriver Waltz”, sounds familiar? This song was released on Alex Turners solo efforts in “Submarine” soundtrack. The band re-recorded the entire song with sharper leads and the vocal seems hurried. Nonetheless, the outstanding song-writing are pretty evident. (“Been for breakfast at the heart break hotel/if you are gonna try walk on water, make sure you wear comfortable shoes”).Beautiful then, Beautiful now.

A lovely ballad in the form of “Love is a Laserquest” is a song which could have easily made it to Turner’s solo project and his soothing, relaxing voice shines through.  As the end draws nearer, the record starts to get more harmonic and the title track “Suck It and See” has the croons with multiple backing vocals at the chorus. This track is right synthesis of everything that they have tried before. Closing this album, we have “That’s Where You’re Wrong” which is a reminiscent of “505” with two chord progression throughout the song and an addictive tune to it. It’s bound to become one of the crowd favorites and a permanent place in live setlists.

“Suck It and See” has the mix of few songs from their back catalogue and their advent into more mainstream groovy-rock with a lack of ever sustaining riffs and hooks from Jamie. Another drawback is the absence of variations, as a guitar tone is followed thorough in many songs and the fact that the tracks seems to be arranged in a hay wire manner doesn’t help. Except the ending, the entire record seems to lack continuity which distorts the harmony and flow. The constant remains frontman Alex Turner’s smart mouth and his way with word, angst teenage mold lyrics and his continued form of excellent songwriting.  In the review for Humbug (Click Here) , being particularly excited about what Arctic Monkeys are going to do next, “Suck It and See” is a satisfactory answer. 

Key Songs: Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair, That's Where You're Wrong, Suck It and See, Love Is A Laserquest.

Track Listing:

1. She's Thunderstorm (3:55)
2. Black Treacle (3:35)
3. Brick By Brick (2:59)

4. The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala (3:00)

5. Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair (3:04)

6. Library Pictures (2:22)

7. All My Own Stunts (3:52)

8. Reckless Serenade (2:43)

9. Piledriver Waltz (3:24)

10. Love is a Laserquest (3:12)

11. Suck It and See (3:46)

12. That's Where You're Wrong (4:17)

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Wasting Light by Foo Fighters

Wasting Light. (Foo Fighters)

He is not the “drummer from Nirvana”. He is Dave Grohl, lead vocalist and guitarist of Foo Fighters.

Album Rating: **** (4/5)

By now it’s quite safe to say, anyone who compares Foo Fighters to Nirvana has either never heard them or is too busy immortalizing Nirvana to hear them.  Foo Fighter’s latest venture called “Wasting Light” (taken from the song “Miss The Misery”) is their best album yet, and yes it’s better than “The Colour and The Shape”.

Produced by Butch Vig (responsible for Nirvana’s “Nevermind”), this record is a rare combination of great songwriting, melodic, anthemic guitar riffs, loud and explosive vocals. Recorded entirely in his garage, Dave called it their “heaviest album till date” and Boy! Was he right!

Foo Fighters had uploaded a 30 second snippet of “Burning Bridges” weeks before the release with Dave shouting “These are my famous last words” and that was enough to get everyone excited about the new record. This is exactly how “Wasting Light” commences. A catchy riff, exploding drums, Dave ‘growl’ and you know right from the start, You are in for one hell of a ride!

Following next is the first single “Rope” which starts with jangled guitars before crashing into mahogany-rich cymbals. Although it is lower than the usual Fighter’s anthem, it retains some characteristic feel of "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace".  There’s a duet as well with Bob Mould from Husker Du/Sugar in “Dear Rosemary”, (very similar to “Steady as She Goes” by Raconteurs) a song about restrain and restriction in a relationship. Welcome Guilty-Pleasure. Although Bob tries his best to match up with Dave, he just plays a catalyst in belting the choruses and its best kept that way.

Enter, The heaviest Foo Fighters song, ever. In “White Limo”, Dave Grohl’s screaming vocals have finally been allowed to shine through the whole of it. There are verses that are immensely distorted, the guitar is extremely heavy and it’s particularly evident that the band intentionally had it this way to add the “Garage-recording-thrash-metal” feel to it (They had released a “I am so wasted” type video for it too). It does go into overkill after a certain period and the screaming become tiresome, there is no change to it at any point; it is just a constant growl that becomes irritable by the end of the song.

But no need to fret, We have “Arlandria” and “These Days” which is a tough, moody power ballad in the melancholic spirit of 1997's ''Everlong''. One of the best songs on this record, it has rightly timed pauses and raises insecurity amongst hope (“The clocks will stop and time won't mean a thing”). I bet the same.  On “Back And Forth”, a pop frenzy of sorts, it becomes quite reminiscent of the alternative songs in the 90’s and “A Matter of Time” seems likely go into records as ‘another-good-Foos-song’ with no varied perception in songwriting still maintaining enough melody to make it to the record.

As the end of the album draws closer, excellent lyrics and artistically churned riffs becomes more apparent. “Miss The Misery”, which can act as a filler for some is generic and unique in its own way at the same time. But what follows next are the two very sublime songs of the record. “I Should Have Known” (ft. Nirvana’s bassist Krist Novoselic) almost seems a song dedicated to Kurt Cobain and how his absence seems to be looming still (“Didn't hear your warning/Damn my heart gone deaf”) and a pursuing unforgivable guilty rage that sets in for his mind to be consoled of the loss. (“No, I cannot forgive you yet/To leave my heart in debt”).

The final song of this record delivers the best Foo Fighters song yet (yes, better than “The Pretender”). As “Walk” commences, you can almost feel yourself ‘million miles away’ with Chris Shiflett’s ‘Edge-Chiming’ type guitar sounding more ambient than it ever has.  As it builds up, it acts as a source of faith and new beginnings amongst the dark, striving for freedom from the fear caught up in the mind.  Reaching its zenith, the climax ranges from extreme despair (“I'm on my knees, I'm waiting for a sign" ) to a near wish for immortality, Dave passionately screaming “I never wanna die”. This is clearly the best 4 minutes of music to come out this year. And yes, Welcome back Pat Smear to the Foo’s line up. He deserves a huge credit for shaping the mid-section of this song with insanely beautiful guitar playing. 

"Wasting Light" is a serious contender for 'Album of the Year' title and Foo Fighters have just raised the bar quite high for acts like Coldplay, U2 and Arctic Monkeys to beat. Until and unless, all the other artist put forth their absolute best, this one's an instant winner.

Key Songs: Walk, These Days, I Should Have Known.

Listen To The Album:

Wasting Light by Foo Fighters


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