THE ARCTIC MONKEYS

Katherine Carr

BASIC INFORMATION

• Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield

• The band currently consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Jamie Cook (lead guitar, backing vocals), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Matt Helders (drums, percussion, backing vocals).

• The band have released four studio albums: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006), Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007), Humbug (2009) and Suck It and See (2011), as well as one live album At the Apollo (2007).

• Their debut album became the fastest-selling debut album in British music history, and remains the fastest-selling debut album for a band in the UK.

• Arctic Monkeys are heralded as one of the first acts to come to the public attention via the Internet (fan-based sites rather than from the band), suggesting they represented the possibility of a change in the way in which new bands are promoted and marketed.5

ALEX TURNER

• Alexander David Turner was born on the 6th of January 1986.

• He iss an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and main songwriter of the English band Arctic Monkeys.

• He has also recorded with a side-project called The Last Shadow Puppets and as a solo artist.

JAMIE COOK

• Jamie Robert Cook was born on the 8th of July 1985.

• He is the lead guitarist for the British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys.

• He is the most outspoken member, going on record as saying he "fucking hates the news" and defending the band's numerous successive records by saying, "I couldn’t see us being like Coldplay, it’d just be fucking boring. You tour your album for three years and play the same fucking gig night after night. It must really be depressing. Some people might enjoy doing that, but we couldn't."

NICK O’MALLEY

• O'Malley replaced Andy Nicholson as the bands bassist.

• O'Malley learned the whole of the band's debut album in two days of intensive play where he "pretty much didn't even leave the house."2

• Although O'Malley was only expected to continue until Nicholson has fully recovered, Nicholson's departure from the band saw the announcement that O'Malley will become a full member of the band.

MATT HELDERS

• Matthew Jerome Helders was born on the 7th of May 1986.

• He is the drummer for English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys.

• He is the most comprehensive backing vocalist in the group, appearing on several tracks, including the majority of 'Humbug‘ and also features as main vocals on Brick By Brick and Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair.

• He is seen as the band's "quietly amiable diplomat".4

WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM, THAT’S WHAT I’M NOT

• The band finished recording their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire in September 2005.

• It became the fastest selling debut album in UK chart history, selling 363,735 copies in the first week and sold more copies on its first day alone – 118,501 – than the rest of the Top 20 albums combined.

FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE

• The band's second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, was released on 23 April 2007, early reviews of the release were positive, and described it as "very, very fast and very, very loud."

• The picked up several awards from around the world, namely the 'Best New Artist in the United States' at the PLUG Independent Music Awards, the "Album of the Year" awards in Japan, Ireland and the US, awards for "Best Album" and "Best Music DVD" at the 2007 NME Awards.

• On 29 April 2007, Favourite Worst Nightmare charted at #1 in the and all 12 tracks from the album charted in the Top 200 of the UK Singles Chart.

HUMBUG

• Critics declared this album "completely defied any expectations or presumptions to explore the depths they can reach when stepping foot outside their accepted styles", and that "Turner is his usual eloquent self, but has definitely graduated into an incomparable writer whose themes twist and turn through stories and allegories so potent and profound it actually leaves one breathless".

• The first single "Crying Lightning" debuted at number 12 in the UK Singles Chart and number 1 on the UK Indie Chart.

• Arctic Monkeys embarked on the first leg of the worldwide Humbug Tour in January 2009 and went on to headline 2009's Reading and Leeds.

SUCK IT AND SEE

• Suck It And See is Arctic Monkeys most recent album, and the tour is still taking place.

• Q magazine reported that the fourth Arctic Monkeys album is a "more accessible vintage" than Humbug, and 'It's the sound of a band drawing back the curtains and letting the sunshine in'.41