They Evolve Once More... (Humbug - Arctic Monkeys)

Member Name: World-of-Bones

Product:	Humbug - Arctic Monkeys
Date:	07/09/09 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great lyrics, great vocals, Helder, Turner etc etc

Disadvantages: It doesn't go on forever?

Sitting here listening to Sheffield based band Arctic Monkey's 3rd studio album I can't help but feel surprised once more at the amount they have changed their sound. Their 2nd album "Favourite Worst Nightmare" saw the laddish songs that made them so loved in the first place disappear. This proved they weren't just a fad as they changed their sound considerably yet Alex Turner continued to churn out amazing lyrics and vocals with well written music heavily utilising Matt Helders great drumming ability. Humbug once again evolves the sound of the Arctic Monkeys making more use of Nicholson's bass guitar and Alex Turner seems to believe the lyrics in this album are more thought out than previous songs. So, without further ado, let's get on with it.

My Propeller - The opening track of the album starts the album as it means to go on, with a great drumline and some very catchy riffs and basslines. Alex Turner seems to have taken on a darker tone of singing that goes with this song well. Nicholson's backing singing is utilised well in parts of this song and overall it is not one of the stand out songs of the album, but it's still fantastic. That, I believe, shows just how good this album is.

Crying Lightning - The first single to be taken off the new album begins fast and with yet another great drum sequence from Helder, they definately want to make full use of a prized asset. This song, as with a lot of the album, seems to show some sort of pent up sexual frustration in Alex Turner. Once again, Alex's voice seems darker but unmistakably his. The lyrics are once again the main draw of this song, with some memorable lines and a fantastic chorus of:
"Your past times, consisted of the strange, twisted and deranged and I hate that little game you had called, Crying Lightning".
The verses are packed with some truly awesome lyrics and singing and Helder's drum-work throughout the song is fantastic.

Secret Door - This is undoubtedly one of the stand-out tracks of the album, it has remnants of "Favourite Worst Nightmare" closing track "505", obviously the Monkey's took note of how popular that song was and decided to use it to their advantage. The chorus has got to be the best part of this song, with more amazing vocal work from Alex. The music behind the great lyrics and vocals makes it all the more great, with some slow, drawling organ(?) work and more magic from Helder, but we're beginning to expect that from him by now.

Cornerstone - This is another stand out track, from what I can tell is recalls an account of a taxi ride of Alex Turner with a girl he obviously likes, or the chorus suggest so anyway, speaking of which, the chorus is absolute magic as well. The verses live up to the chorus and the music as well, blending in perfectly with the backing music and flowing in and out of the chorus seemlessly.

Dangerous Animals - This track returns to the same sort of tempo as Crying Lightning, with Alex Turner seemingly talking of some sort of dominatrix type of woman. The chorus is very different in this song, with Alex spelling out the name of the song, which is hard to explain. This song contains one of my favourite lines of the album:
"When the acrobat fell off the beam, she broke everyone's heart."
And also contains more of Alex Turner's pent up sexual frustration, which is made undeniably clear with the line:
"It's been long enough now so let's, make a mess lioness."

Potion Approaching - Not one of the stand out tracks in my opinion, but a few people I know think this is one of the best songs on the album. Don't get me wrong, it's stilla great track, it reverts back to a faster paced Arctic Monkeys and reminds me of "Favourite Worst Nightmare" quite a lot, Nicholson's backing vocals are used to great effect in this song during the chorus. Once again it seems to depict more lust and love of Alex Turner's life, whether it is past or present, no one knows.

Fire and the Thud - Another one of the songs that doesn't stand out particularly, after two faster paced songs the tempo is lowered again and the mood seems darkened, with much softer singing from Alex and some dark backing vocals. The chorus is the best part of this song where the tempo picks up a small amount and Alex Turner's vocals turn into a sort of drawl which turns out to be amazing.

Dance Little Liar - Another track I think doesn't stand out but is still a decent song. Once again it's got a slower tempo than we are used to from Arctic Monkey's and Alex Turner reverts to the drawl I was talking about in "Fire and the Thud". Some of the chords in this song are fantastic and Helder's drumming is, as you would expect, brilliant. Backing vocals are used again, they are utilised perfectly, not too loud as to overpower the rest of the song but a more subtle type of chorus in the background. Nearer to the end the tempo picks up quite a bit and fits in with the song perfectly as they spend 3 minutes or so building up to this crescendo when everything but the guitar falls silent and the rest of the band is brought back in one by one. The ending sets it up for the next song.

Pretty Visitors - Now, here we go, in my opinion the best song on the album, the beginning makes it sound like another slow tempo song but you are quickly corrected as the drums kick in loud and hard. Alex Turner has come out of his drawl with some blindingly fast wordplay during the verses before he lowers the tempo for the best chorus in recent memory:
"All the Pretty Visitors came and waved their arms and cast, the shadow of a snake pit on the walls"
The tempo picks up seemlessly for the next verse, which begins with a nice memorable line of:
"What came first? The chicken or the dickhead?"
Continuing on with more fast-paced fancy word play which brings about another of my favourite lines on the album:
"Split sleep reaps rewards and ill fitting thoughts and twilight falls, she doesn't wanna walk, your legs start running and your leg gets caught"
After the second chorus the tempo drops so you can catch some breath before Helder picks it back up with an extraordinary drumroll and Alex, after taking a much needed deep breath, takes you into the next verse and then a heavy final chorus.

The Jeweller's Hands - The final song on the album takes off with a nice, funky intro and continues with a lighter tone than previous songs. Alex Turner seems to have settled in between his normal singing style and the drawl previously mentioned. The lyrics in this song are immense and I absolutely love them. The tone continues to be lighter for much of the song and the verses and chorus merge together seemlessly. Nicholson is used to great effect in this song with some amazing basslines to bridge the chorus and verses. Just after halfway through the song the tempo is picked up by Helder's drumroll but Alex Turner continues to use this "semi-drawl" (And yes, that is a new style of singing i've just made up :)). The song continues to build up and then it fades out gradually, all that's left to do now is listen to the whole album again.

This truly is a fantastic album and I would nearly go so far to say as it is as good "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not". It's full of beautifully written lyrics, fantastic vocal work, great riffs and basslines and drum sequences that leave you in awe. Although I would say, even though it is the same band, you really can't compare "Humbug" with "Whatever People Say I Am..." because they are unbelievably different styles of music. I suppose you could compare it to "Favourite Worst Nightmare", and if you do, "Humbug" comes out on top every single time. I recently saw these live at Leeds Festival, and a lot of people found them disappointing, it might be because of the extensive list of songs off "Humbug" considering it had only been released a few days before they played. I, however, found it amazing and it's one of the best gigs i've been to, maybe it's because I had been listening to "Humbug" for almost a month, but it was fantastic. Back to the point, I would HIGHLY recommend this album to anyone. Get it, now.

Summary: Fantastic album, cannot recommend it more.