Arctic Monkeys - ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’

After the nationally acclaimed heroics of ‘Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not’, you may be inclined to think that Sheffield equivalent to the Dalai Lama, the Arctic Monkeys, saved British Diplomacy – not Rock and Roll.

And now with the release of the ominous second album – a career terminator for many a higher-than-thou band of yesteryear – they return with ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’; another ill-tempered piece of streetwise poetic genius. Throwing literate bricks at the glass house that is the British Public, Alex Turner’s lyrical wit, irony and animosity lay well established to the trade mark sound of erratic guitars and dance floor filling rhythm sections.

For what you may think they lack in musical dexterity and drunken dance floor fillers over an initial listen, they show confidence and progression in embracing a fuller, aggressive and layered sound. First single, ‘Brianstorm’, oozes the youthful zeal and unassuming arrogance to which we are originally accustomed to, now toying with surreptitious production elements.

From the cheeky school dance hooks of ‘Fluorescent adolescent’ to the archaic and mellow build up to breakdown of ‘Do Me A Favour’ the album battles with the aim to take a strong on Britpop once again. A consistent album searching for admiration in the exploration of something new, yet it struggles to move from the already well established mark and sound that we have become accustomed to from the first album.