Arctic Monkeys concert in Barcelona
Among all the groups hurriedly lauded by British critics in the last ten years, the band from Sheffield Arctic Monkeys, who will present their latest album, Suck It and See (name taken from a scene out of Stanley Kubrick’s film A Clockwork Orange, a name in accordance with the bands known carefree and irreverent side) at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona (http://www.bsmsa.cat/index.php?id=24&L=1) on the 28th of January is probably one of the most genuinely interesting ones.
The rebellious and mocking spirit the Arctic Monkeys reflected in the title of the album has found its true expression in the many moments of their career where they made fun of the pointlessness of the music industry that has been so interested in them from the beginning but never taking them seriously due to outrageous moments as in that famous occasion when they dressed up as Village People to pick up a major prize.
That northern British teenager arrogance is in as way irresistibly attractive as the the first Beatles were, but has a more nuanced expression in this new CD. Suck It and See is sufficiently representative, because although there are songs like the frantic Library Pictures that seem to remember that teenager arrogance despite its delicious chorus, its most genuine in its primordial essence, the album reflects primarily an increasingly more sensitive attempt to lower the adrenaline rush for a more classical flavor compositions. This is not to say that the songs have become more domesticated but they show a working approach to the work of the great masters, something that can give us a clue is recent covers by the group, such as the interpretation of Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds or the particular tribute to Leonard Cohen by Alex Turner (guitarist and lead vocalist of the group) on the soundtrack of the film by Richard Ayoade Submarine-his recognized growing interest in Lee Hazlewood would be another example of the phenomenon.
Parallel to this expansion of their tastes and inclinations, Suck It and See has led them to yet again work with James Ford, the producer of their first two albums, resulting in a full and rich sound of the best British tradition with more than an echo from bands like the Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen, and this has raised fears among some of their followers due to the unexpected elegance, subtlety and interest in new subject matters such as the passage of time, the evils of love and a sense of sentimentalism and melancholy that somehow was born in Sheffield, creating a different challenging group effect for which they are essentially known for so far.
A concert is naturally the best idea to get rid of any doubts and judging by the quality of the new songs, they are playing on the current tour we know something really good is going to happen. Make up your own opinion if you rent apartments in Barcelona
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