Right off the bat, without coyness, The Arctic Monkey’s new album Humbug presents itself as a change of pace for these rising Brit-rockers. Whether they have matured, or just attempting something novel only once, I am not sure. Yet I do know that they surprised me with an altered musical-philosophy this time around. Note: if you are an Arctic Monkeys fan solely because you find their music an enjoyable stimulant for workouts this album might not be for you. However, I believe the majority of fans will find their latest creation quite enjoyable.
The first track, My Propeller, is an announcement of the uncharacteristic album; instead of a get-on-your-feet rousing rock song we are handed an unusual placid drum beat along a more discernable, yet withheld, vocal styling. The following song, Crying Lightning, reiterates the band’s mood for this album with a more conserved beat flanked by a heavy focus on a gritty bass line and more present vocals. With Humbug The Arctic Monkeys traded their signature consistent high energy rock for more dynamic songs that are not afraid to raise the energy and then let it recede, never getting too high or too low. The album on a whole also flows like this, the energy moving up and down. To be sure, they haven’t abandoned old fashioned high pace rock n’ roll, but when you hear them doing an acoustically lead slow song in Cornerstone you know a change has occurred. While their careers are surely still on the upswing The Arctic Monkeys no doubt seem to be aware that for longevity one cannot become typecast into one way of writing songs. That or they got bored. Either way we are the benefactors.
The freshness of this album is not confined to a reduction of beats per minute; it reveals that the band would like to establish they are acquainted with other styles of rock. On this authors favorite track from the album, Fire and the Thud, we are presented with a steady driving blues-like beat with reverb laden vocals and ringing guitars that make one think of The Doors initially only to climax into overdriven guitars with echoing vocals and then die down again. The employment of subtle psychedelic effects on the guitars and vocals within many of this album’s tracks help to expand their sound and offers them more musical potential. This is also apparent on the rowdy track Pretty Visitors (which might also best showcase the overall new style of the album), as it opens with an echoing organ only to move into the well executed high paced fury that defined the band until now only to skillfully decay into effects again, but not without one more punch of excitement toward the end.
All in all Humbug should be a pleasant and welcomed album for most Arctic Monkey fans and should surprise many who were not won over by their first two albums. For those fans that enjoy the band merely because of the mosh pit friendly tempo of their previous releases, it may be a disappointment. However any band worth their salt needs to show progression, dynamism and maturity as they themselves age. The Arctic Monkeys did this and gave us their most well-rounded & superlative album yet.
by Sean Poynton Brna (originally written for Chicagoindie.com in 09/09)
