I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

With my unhealthy addiction to the British zine industry, I usually try to keep up to date with the newest musical trends on the other side of the Atlantic. I am the chump that buys the import CD for 30 dollars, only to regret the decision six months later when the same CD comes out in the States with a whole slew of bonus tracks. So, imagine my surprise when the Arctic Monkeys album dropped out of nowhere to sell more than 100,000 copies on its release day, with predictions of it being the fastest selling British debut of all time.

Say what?

The NME hype machine is now at full force giving the Arctic Monkeys' (possibly the worst band name of all time) debut CD (sporting the ugliest cover of all time) Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (easily the most detestable title of all time) a whopping 10/10. The last 10 from NME that I can remember was the equally hyped Is This It?. Even more ridiculous, they placed WPSIA TWIN (worst acronym in recent memory) at #5 in the greatest British Albums ever poll. WTF? Ahead of Blur, Pulp, The Clash, and the Beatles? Surely this is an asshole move intended to move print, but still, how to explain the sales?

The internet backlash is expectedly strong (date rape indie??), but despite latching onto the usual suspects of the internet(s) and street teams, people are still at a loss to explain the Arctic Monkeys phenomenon. Unfortunately, I don't have enough knowledge of the musical, let alone social and economic landscape of Britain to provide any answers either.

And after a week of listening to the album, I am still ambivalent. Sure it has some catchy tunes, but nothing to write home about. I wouldn't have been phased if this had happened to Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, or the Kaiser Chiefs (to name a few of their hyped peers - especially off the strength of their respective pre-release singles), but the Arctic Monkeys? Come on!

Perhaps I shouldn't be that surprised. As one internet scribe elegantly penned:

brits in liking moronic derivative rock shockah