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Post by Fuggle on Mar 2, 2006 19:02:28 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys For World Cup Song? Joe Cole seems to think so...By: Scott Colothan on 3/2/2006Joe Cole has accidentally thrown Arctic Monkeys in the running for the England World Cup song. The Chelsea footballer was speaking in Manchester yesterday promoting the England away kit when he starting talking about his favourite music. Asked by mtv about his favourite bands, he said: “I’m listening to Richard Ashcroft and Arctic Monkeys at the moment. “I think Arctic Monkeys are a fantastic new band. I’m playing them in my car.” When quizzed whether they’d make a good World Cup song, he added: “Wow. I don’t know, maybe! You never know. I’m sure whoever does it will do a great job.”
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 2, 2006 19:05:09 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys Are Storming USThe Arctic Monkeys, the four young lads from Sheffield kick off their first U.S. tour with an appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live. The band's North American television debut airs Saturday night, March 11. After that, the group kicks off its sold-out tour with a show in San Francisco on March 13. The US leg will hit San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Seattle. No doubt "Fake Tales of San Francisco" will be on the set list. Also, an exclusive live footage of Arctic Monkeys, Maximo Park, We Are Scientists and Mystery Jets on the NME Tour can be seen on MTV2 today, at 9pm. If you miss that, you can also catch it on Friday (March 3) at 11pm, again on MTV2. The Arctic Monkeys were crowned Best British Band at the recent ShockWaves NME Awards as they collected a hat-trick of prizes. The foursome became the first act to win Best New Band and Best British Band in the same year. Their triple win comes only a month after the release of their debut album, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not". It became England's fastest-selling debut in chart history, shifting over 360,000 copies in its first week. "Hopefully the tabloid thing has peaked," the band's frontman, Alex Turner said commenting on the album. "It doesn't seem to be as big [to us] as what people might think it is. Maybe we are immune to all of it because of everything that's happened. Maybe in 10 years we'll realise what it is."
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 3, 2006 16:36:06 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys DVDMar 03, 2006 Story by: Jessica SuarezArctic Monkeys will further their hostile takeover of all media by releasing a DVD featuring two short films inspired by their current single, "Sun Goes Down." The DVD, titled Scummy Man, follows a day in the life of Nina, the character who stars in the video for "Sun Goes Down." The song details the lives of Sheffield prostitutes and their pimps, hence the name Scummy Man. Stephen Graham, of the film Snatch portrays the titular character in the short films, which were directed by Danny Cohen and written by Paul Frazer. The DVD will be released April 10 in Europe via Domino.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 3, 2006 16:38:14 GMT -5
In Sight/ Music: Arctic Monkeys living up to the hype--for now
03/03/2006 By C.B. LIDDELL,Contributing Writer
The big record companies and media conglomerates are worried. Or at least they want you to think they are. The cause of all the fuss is a band called the Arctic Monkeys and how they got to the top: mostly on their own. The four lads from Sheffield, England, are, apparently, taking the world by storm, including three dates in Japan early next month to promote their smash debut album, "Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm Not."
The Arctic Monkeys are a tight band with impressive percussion. Singer-guitarist Alex Turner half-raps and half-sings his way through streetwise lyrics that non-British audiences could find challenging.
The band is the latest and most-evolved rock-rap crossover, with influences from The Jam, The Clash and British rapper Roots Manuva.
But, although the band's music and lyrics are definitely worth a listen, the buzz about the band keeps coming back to the do-it-yourself way they broke onto the music scene.
Instead of being promoted by a record company, the Arctic Monkeys built up the hype on their own, in a sort of youth phenomenon frenzy. All the band members are just 19 or 20 years old. They gave away their music and banned scouts from their crowd-surfing gigs where fans sang along and seemed to know the words better than they did.
The image was that they didn't ask for help and they definitely didn't seek anyone's permission. Teens loved it.
But, when the right record deal came along, they took it.
The band got its start when Turner and fellow guitarist Jamie Cook got guitars for Christmas in 2002 and then hooked up with drummer Matt Helders and bassist Andy Nicholson.
"We just played whatever we could then," Turner recalled in a BBC interview. "It was like no specific style or anything. We were all learning, so if we could get from the start of the song to the end, it were like an achievement. So the style didn't start until like 18 months after we started playing together."
After their first gig in the summer of 2003, they built up a dedicated fan base by handing out free, home-burned CDs that were then shared over the Internet on several peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. Through the "viral marketing" of file sharing and word-of-mouth, they started to attract attention from record companies. They signed with Domino Records last June.
The band's sound and image fit perfectly into this "done without permission" grass-roots paradigm. The music has a hard ska-inflected edge that complements Turner's dry delivery and whiplash lyrics about gritty post-industrial Britain.
In "A Certain Romance," the last song on their album, Turner takes a poke at the commercialization of the music business. "There's only music, so that there's new ringtones," he sings with a sneer.
Imagewise, the Arctic Monkeys seem unprepossessing, almost hiding behind their instruments before they launch into the sharply focused energy of their performances. This sends out the signal they are unhappy with all the attention and perpetuates their image as rebels and music-business outsiders.
The band's early career has also raised the specter the music industry dreads--the notion that the culture of popular music can be divorced from the music business, recreating some of the same excitement of the punk and Napster years. Accordingly, the band has been embraced by teenagers and others desperate for rock music with a whiff of rebellion.
But like those earlier rebellions were, the Arctic Monkeys seem on their way to being tamed. When their debut album was released in January, distribution was stepped up a week early because of fears the album had been leaked and would be distributed for free on the Internet--the way the Arctic Monkeys used to do such things.
It wasn't to be free. Prompted by an orchestrated media blitz instead of the old word-of-mouth, fans rushed out to buy the CD and every magazine featuring their heroes' faces on the cover. Not to mention the ringtones the band had once sneered at.
The band's CD sold more than 360,000 copies in the first week, making it the fastest-selling debut in U.K. chart history.
One month after they released the album, the band scored three NME (New Musical Express) Awards on Feb. 23: best new band, best British band and best track for "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor."
Now, as stablemates of that other recent phenomenon, the Glasgow band Franz Ferdinand, it's a busy schedule of interviews, tour bus rides, photo ops and planes to catch. For the next chapter of their story, maybe a top producer will even be brought in for that "difficult second album." The Arctic Monkey's northern English grit may take a while to wear down, but already the band is clearly on the corporate treadmill.
I predict the band will work hard in Japan, stay at the best hotels, get limos everywhere, be polite to top record company people, and maybe even take a little trip up to Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, for that perfect photo op. It's easy to imagine the Arctic Monkeys posed with those other famous monkeys. You know, the ones in Nikko that see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil.
***
The Arctic Monkeys play April 2 (6 p.m.) at Zepp Osaka. Call Kyodo Osaka at 06-6233-8888. April 3 (7 p.m.) at Diamond Hall in Nagoya. Call SMC Plaza at 052-265-2666. Sold out: April 4 (7 p.m.) at Shinkiba Studio Coast in Tokyo. All shows \5,800.(IHT/Asahi: March 3,2006)
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 3, 2006 16:41:22 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys Set To Release New DVD A series of short films...by Daniel Melia on 3/3/2006 Photo by: Shirlaine ForrestA DVD featuring two short films inspired by Arctic Monkeys last single ‘Sun Goes Down’ is set to be released in April. Entitled ‘Scummy Man’ the DVD was made by Warp Films and tells the story of Nina (The girl from the ‘Sun Goes Down’ video) and a day in her life. Filming was done on location in Sheffield with award winning director Danny Cohen in charge. It stars Stephen Graham (Snatch, Top Buzzer) as the Scummy Man and Lauren Socha as Nina. Both of the short films were written by Paul Frazer whose previous credits include ‘A Room For Romeo Brass’ and ‘Twentyfourseven’. The DVD will be released on April 10 via Domino and will also feature the promo for ‘Sun Goes Down’.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 3, 2006 16:52:23 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys may generate heat in America
By JOHN WIRT Music critic Published: Mar 3, 2006
Arctic Monkeys WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM, THAT’S WHAT I’M NOTHaving already conquered its homeland, Sheffield, England’s Arctic Monkeys may be on their way to conquering America, too. The band’s Web site says the Monkeys’ upcoming American tour is sold out. Meanwhile, the group won three NME (New Musical Express) awards last week, including the prize for best British band. Arctic Monkeys’ debut CD, featuring mostly short, quick blasts of post-modern rock, is a fresh expansion of what went before. The songs reflect punk rock from both sides of the Atlantic (the Clash, the Ramones), ’80s and ’90s British bands (the Smiths, Stone Roses and Oasis) and bits of metal (System Of A Down). Singer-guitarist Alex Turner’s tales of girls and clubs and getting thrown into the riot van sound totally authentic and the band plays tight despite its air of don’t-give-a-damn abandon. On quieter occasions, the melody and chord progressions show the Monkeys studied the Smiths, for example, very well. If these lads are as strong on stage as they are on record they are worthy of the hype.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 4, 2006 18:33:15 GMT -5
Double top for Arctic Monkeys
RECORD-breaking Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys are on top of the world today after becoming the current best-selling rock group in Australia and Saudia Arabia.
04 March 2006
The million-selling debut album from the fresh-faced quartet has also gone in at number 24 in America's Billboard chart making it the highest entry for an independent guitar record in US chart history. The album Whatever You Say I Am, That's What I'm Not has made the top 10 of most European countries and set the band up for a forthcoming world tour in which most dates sold out in hours. Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Andy Nicholson and Matt Helders, from High Green and Hillsborough, head for America next week and a series of shows on the east and west coasts. Their trip will include a performance on the famous Saturday Night Live TV show and a New York gig where A-list celebrities including Hollywood star Liv Tyler have been clamouring for tickets. The Brit Award winners then head off to Japan for three sold out shows, including a 2,800-capacity gig in Tokyo before returning to Europe for dates ahead of UK festivals including Oxygen, in Ireland, and Scotland's T In The Park, where they play the main stage just ahead of The Who and The Strokes. In Texas the Arctics will be one of three Sheffield bands playing the influential SXSW music festival, a launchpad for the wider career of many bands. Punky trio Bromheads Jacket and Hillsborough outfit Harrisons are also there, but Arctics manager Geoff Barradale revealed his lads nearly didn't get the go ahead when the chief of police in Austin tried to pull the event over safety concerns. "He tried to refuse us the right to play there and wanted us to give in and play an aircraft hanger of a venue," he said. "So we've had to draft in extra security." The manager also told The Star View From The Afternoon will be the band's next single, but with "one or two surprises".
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 4, 2006 18:37:43 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys BiographyMaybe you’re about to read this and find out about a band called Arctic Monkeys. Or maybe you already know more about them than 1,000 words could ever convey. Maybe you downloaded their songs months before record companies cared and maybe you were grabbed by the sudden urge to drive for half a day just to see them play. Maybe you picked up one of the demos they handed out at early gigs, memorised every word and bellowed them back at them during their next gig. Maybe you were one of the kids who’s taken up surfing across Monkeys’ crowds as a full-time hobby. And maybe you’ve also ended up with a permanent monitor-related injury because of it. Because unless your definition of success rests on how many private yachts you can afford, Arctic Monkeys were already massive way before they inked a deal with Domino in June 2005. People obsessing over the songs? Sold-out gigs full of stage-diving nutcases? Hardcore fans pressed up against venue windows, just hoping to catch a glimpse? Such checkpoints have all been ticked. “What’s happened has been proper hysterical,” grins lead singer/guitarist Alex Turner, acknowledging the hurricane of hero worship his band have been swept up by in the last few months. “If I say ‘phenomenon’ it sounds like I’m right up my own arse, but we’d be daft to act like we didn’t realise how incredible the last year’s been. When it all started we were like ‘fucking hell, what’s going off here?’” Of course, it was guitars that started it all: two of them, given to Alex and Jamie Cook as Xmas presents just three years ago. The pair began practising furiously – some might say competitively - before Andy Nicholson (bass) and Matt Helders (drums) joined the throng. The boys may share a love of The Smiths, The Clash and The Jam (and sure, Jamie may boast a healthy passion for Oasis, System Of A Down and Queens Of The Stone Age) but in no way were The Monkeys ready to simply regurgitate the well-trodden Brit-rock path. Rather, they spent their school days listening to Roots Manuva, Braintax and other stuff on [UK hip hop label] Low-Life, not to mention Lyricist Lounge compilations and Rawkus Records cuts like Pharaoh Monch. Another unique influence was Mancunian poet John Cooper Clarke, who Alex is a huge recent fan of. “He’s this dead skinny guy with big mad hair, red tinted glasses and drainpipe jeans, a proper character,” raves Alex. “Everyone tells us we’ve got a shit band name but he was like ‘That’s great! There’s no trees in the arctic! How would it survive?’ He painted this picture instantly, a real creative mind!” Hence the razor-sharp lyricism that fuels songs like ‘A Certain Romance’, a witty observation of small-town life where “there’s only music so that there’s new ringtones” and where going out could sometimes mean having a pool cue wrapped around your head. Elsewhere, there were grim tales of girls who’d ended up on the streets (“She don’t do major credit cards, I doubt she does receipts” – ‘Sun Goes Down’) and glorious swipes at the rock’n’roll clones that arose on the back of the great garage rock boom of 2002 (“Yeah I’d like to tell you all my problems/You’re not from New York City, you’re from Rotherham” – Fake Tales Of San Francisco). This was life in satellite-town England, as cutting and observant as anything you’d hear from Mike Skinner. But it wasn’t always like that. “Lyrics were a dark patch,” admits Alex. “Nobody wanted to admit they wrote them so we kept trying other singers so they’d do it for us. But I'd secretly been writing since school and I enjoyed it. I just never told anyone because I didn’t want to have piss took out of me!” Even with their poetic obstacles overcome, it was a year before the Monkeys dared venture onto a stage. Why? It had to be perfect. And by the time they played their first gig at The Grapes in Sheffield, it was. People went berserk and the band walked offstage thinking they might just be onto something. A few gigs later and they found themselves playing Sheffield Forum, in front of a crowd who knew words that Alex hadn’t learnt properly yet. They couldn’t understand it, but there was a reason their fan base had been swelling: the demos they’d been handing out for nowt at gigs in true DIY punka style. “I used to work in a bar at venues and it really annoyed me when bands would say ‘We’ve got CDs for sale at the back, three pound each’,” says Alex. “You’d think ‘Fuck off, who do you think you are?’ We had this one time where people were literally running up to the stage clambering for these demos, a right frenzy, and we were thinking ‘Fucking hell this is cool’. With demos doing the rounds, across the web and at gigs, bizarre things started happening. Bizarre things like turning up for gigs in Wakefield to be greeted by hardcore Monkeys fans who’d driven from places as far away as Aberdeen. And when the band played the Boardwalk at the start of this year they were greeted with the entire crowd singing the lyrics to ‘When The Sun Goes Down’, a song that’s never been released (at the time of writing this, the band have released just one single). Alex: “I had to stop playing, I were pissing meself! It just erupted into this thing. We had people crowd-surfing and landing on monitors. In Manchester this kid came flying over the crowd and his cheek just smashed on the side of the stage. Another kid came over and just rolled across, a perfect land like a gymnast. But best is when everyone’s just bouncing.” In the space of a few months, word-of-mouth buzz had spread in a way the industry couldn’t keep up with. “Before the hysteria started, labels would say ‘I like you, but I’m not sure about this bit, and that song could do with this changing…’ We never listened. And once it all kicked off we didn’t even worry about it anymore. In London, the kids were watching the band and the record company were at the back watching the kids watching the band.” And, naturally for a band who’ve never once sat and contrived things, questions of the ‘where next’ variety are met with a shrug: “People already proper care about the music, before it’s even finished. You can see it in their eyes and nobody can take that away from you. I guess it can still get bigger, though. Instead of hundreds of people singing the words, it could be thousands. Does that feel any different, I wonder?” Maybe like you, he’s about to find out.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 6, 2006 18:13:47 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys Make Short Films
Mar 06, 2006
The Arctic Monkeys will release a DVD with a pair of short films inspired by its songs.
While the Monkeys name will be included on the cover, the British buzz band has little to do with the affair other than providing the inspiration for the DVD, Scummy Man. The film continues the story of the woman, Nina, who appears in the Monkeys’ video for “The Sun Goes Down.” It’s set for an April 10 European release from Domino Records in the United Kingdom.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 6, 2006 18:15:31 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys Look Good on the Big Screen
March 6, 2006
A British filmmaker has produced two short films inspired by the Arctic Monkeys song, "When the Sun Goes Down."
Scummy Man features two shorts written and directed by Paul Fraser, who penned the screenplays to Twentyfourseven and A Room for Romeo Brass. Filmed on location in Sheffield and shot in super 16mm by Danny Cohen, the DVD features Stephen Graham (Snatch) as the Scummy Man, and Laura Socha as Nina, the main character.
The DVD will be released April 10 in Europe, via Domino, and will feature the music for "When the Sun Goes Down."
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 6, 2006 18:18:12 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not07 Mar 2006This is the incredible debut album from Sheffield-born quartet, the Arctic Monkeys. Surely the most anticipated album of 2006, 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' debuted at #1 in the UK to become the fastest-selling debut album of all time! With their mix of melodic pop, fused with a punk-garage edge, their sound appeals to the alternative rock crowd. The first single "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor", which went straight in at No.1 in the UK singles chart, is included. "the world awaits excitedly for the greatest album since God plugged in his Fender and started jamming with Joe Strummer... there ain't no disappointment around here" - NME 10/10 Tracks: 1. The View From The Afternoon 2. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor 3. Fake Tales Of San Francisco 4. Dancing Shoes 5. You Probably Couldn’t See For The Lights But You Were Looking Straight At Me 6. Still Take You Home 7. Riot Van 8. Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured 9. Mardy Bum 10. Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But.. 11. When The Sun Goes Down 12. From The Ritz To The Rubble 13. A Certain Romance
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 7, 2006 18:56:09 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys' DVD out next month
By Trent McMartin Mar 7, 2006
England\'s newest hitmakers the Arctic Monkeys are set to release their first DVD on April 10. Inspired by the their song \"When the Sun Goes Down,\" the DVD will feature two short films - one called \'Scummy Man,\' the other \'Just Another Day.\'
Both films were written and directed by Paul Fraser and star Lauren Socha as \"Nina,\" the woman to which the film\'s plots revolve around, and Stephen Graham as the \"Scummy Man.\" The DVD will also feature a music promo for \"When the Sun Goes Down.\"
Already stars in their native England, the Arctic Monkeys recently cracked the top 30 in America, debuting at number 24 on Billboard\'s album chart. It was the second fastest selling indie debut ever in American chart history.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 10, 2006 18:40:55 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys To Release Five-Track EP Later this spring...by Scott Colothan on 3/10/2006 Photo by: Shirlaine ForrestArctic Monkeys are set to release a five-track EP containing fresh material later this spring. The band have confirmed that their next single will be ‘The View From The Afternoon’ and it will be fleshed out with more tracks. Although details of the new tracks are yet to emerge, bassist Andy Nicholson told the NME they have been busy working on the EP in-between tours. Andy articulately said: “We’re going to finish the new songs, then we’re going to record them, then we’re going to play them live and stick them on a CD. “It’s going to be an external player, I’m not Joking, five songs, and its hopefully going to be out in April.”
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 10, 2006 18:43:43 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys To Release New EPArctic Monkeys are set to release an EP of new material, just months after their debut album, according to NME.com. The band plans to release "The View From The Afternoon" as their next single in April, but is hoping to expand the release into a full EP with new material they have been working on between tours. Speaking to NME.com, guitarist Jamie Cooke revealed the band have already been back to the studio. "Yeah we're dong an EP for the next single, whenever it's going to be. It's going to be new 'uns," he explained. Although a full EP is yet to be confirmed, the band hopes that new material -- not contained within the demos that appeared online last year -- will see the light of day soon. "We're going to finish the new songs, then we're going to record them, then we're going to play them live and stick them on a CD," said bassist Andy Nicholson. "It's probably going to be an external player, I'm not joking, five songs, and it's hopefully going be out in April. Fingers crossed." Meanwhile the band, who are set to begin their sold out US tour in San Francisco on March 13, kick off the trip with an appearance on Saturday Night Live tomorrow (March 11).
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 10, 2006 18:49:53 GMT -5
U.K. Rock Kings Arctic Monkeys Brit teens prepare for America Welcome to the monkey house Photo by James DimmoSeveral hours before he is scheduled to take the stage, Alex Turner, the guitarist and lead singer of the Arctic Monkeys, enters his dressing room and sits on an ice chest filled with water and energy drinks. It is not at all drafty inside, but Turner is wearing a jacket zipped to the neck and a blue knit cap. Like his three bandmates, Turner has bad skin, looks about fifteen -- he's actually twenty -- and still lives with his parents. These facts have not stopped the Arctic Monkeys from becoming a major sensation in their native Britain. When the band's first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, was released in the U.K. earlier this year, it sold more than 350,000 copies its first week, becoming the fastest-selling debut in British history. Rock icons from David Bowie and Mick Jagger to Oasis and the Strokes are all fans. In the U.S., Whatever People Say debuted in the Top Forty after its February 21st release; the single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" had already been in the iTunes Top Ten for a month. The band will launch a major U.S. club tour on March 13th in San Francisco -- all dates are already sold out. The Monkeys themselves -- Turner; guitarist Jamie Cook, 20; bassist Andy Nicholson and drummer Matt Helders, both 19 -- seem to be wisely recoiling from the hype. They have declined offers to appear on the BBC's Top of the Pops and, pleading already scheduled tour dates, they skipped the Brit Awards, the U.K. equivalent of the Grammys. Tonight, playing a college campus in the sleepy English town of Norwich -- most famous export: mustard -- they are sandwiched in the second slot of a four-band bill, beneath the much-lesser-known indie band Maximo Park. Asked about the upcoming U.S. tour, Cook shrugs and says, "It's pretty hard to break America, innit?" The band hails from Sheffield, an old steel town in northern England, best known, musically, for producing the unholy trinity of Pulp, Human League and Def Leppard. "We all sang 'Let's Get Rocked' every morning at school," Turner notes drily. The son of a secondary-school music teacher, Turner took piano lessons as a kid but hated theory and practice. ("My dad teaches me more stuff now," Turner says. "I'll be home, messing about with a song on the piano, and he'll say, 'What are you trying to do?'") The Monkeys formed in 2002; friends since high school, Turner and Cook had received guitars the prior Christmas and taught themselves a few chords. They began rehearsing every Tuesday evening. "Our early songs were bollocks," says Turner. "A lot of them had the word 'doobie' in them." Because you smoked a lot of pot? "No. Because it was a funny word for spliff." In Norwich, the hangarlike, unadorned venue is packed with true believers when the Monkeys take the stage. The band's hook-filled songs are both taut and sprawling, often packing funky breaks, metallic crescendos and weird pop flourishes -- e.g., the falsetto backing vocals on "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" -- into a single song. Turner favors long, literary-sounding titles: "You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights but You Were Looking Straight at Me," "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But . . ." He's most often compared with Mike Skinner, a.k.a. the Streets, and rightly so. Like Skinner, his lyrics deal with the pedestrian realities of ordinary dudes who hang out in bars and clubs, get hassled by doormen and have trouble making time with stuck-up chicks. Before signing with Domino Records, the indie label that broke Franz Ferdinand, the Monkeys built up huge grass-roots buzz by passing out free CDs at shows to fans, some of whom began posting the songs online. When "Dancefloor" debuted at Number One last year, it blindsided many in the British music industry and wildly excited others looking for a way to use the Internet to save the record business. "It was completely accidental," Turner says. "We never posted any songs ourselves." "We didn't do any promotion," adds Helders, who is wearing a bright-yellow T-shirt reading NO PROBLEM JAMAICA. "There were no posters around London. So newspapers and people like that thought, 'What the fuck is this? Must be the Internet!' Well, the song's pretty good, too." Such rapid ascension has, naturally, come with its share of odd moments. "A tabloid found an ex-girlfriend of mine," says Helders. "That was kind of weird. I went out with her when I was twelve. Then Alex dated her when he was fourteen. She sold her story for, like, a grand." "Last year at this time, we were driving around playing shows near Sheffield," says Turner, adding with considerable understatement, "now, it feels like we'll at least have a go at it." Additional reporting by Brian Hiatt MARK BINELLI Posted Mar 10, 2006 10:20 AM
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