
The 2006 debut from these punky, huge-at-home English boys rocked and popped with straightforward brilliance while doubling as a primer on working-class Sheffield nightlife. A bit heavier and not as immediate, Favourite Worst Nightmare is a slightly lesser record, though by no means a Difficult Second Album. The basic stuff is the same as the debut's: momentum, alternately fluid and hard-riffing guitars, and Alex Turner's lithe singalong tunes. Bangers like "Brianstorm" and "505" sound at once ass-kicking and matter-of-fact, and among more tender cuts, the easy winner is the lovely "Fluorescent Adolescent," a snapshot of a wild girl tamed: "You used to get it in your fishnets/Now you only get it in your nightdress." Though unromantic takes on various club-going lads and lasses and their friends are back again, Turner's lyrics are shorter this time around on details that stick, and some cuts are less than memorable. But most of Nightmare sounds confident, unlabored and just plain good — English cool without English bullshit. The Arctic Monkeys are the new Arctic Monkeys.
-
POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix
Music Reviews
-
star ratingModern Vampires of the City
-
star ratingRandom Access Memories
-
star ratingLSXX: Last Splash: 20th Anniversary Edition
-
star ratingThe Great Gatsby: Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film
-
star ratingMother
-
star ratingTime
We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.












Picks From Around the Web
loading comments...
COMMENTS
Read More