20. Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts (2005)
Arctic Monkeys skilfully navigated the path from observers of everyday life to success on a scale that means you no longer have an everyday life to observe. Nevertheless, a certain parochial charm was lost along the way, as evidenced by this early B-side, a sharp, barkingly funny tale of secondary school romantic woe.
19. Pretty Visitors (2009)
Alex Turner’s lyrics understandably attract the most attention, but Matt Helders’ taut, explosively powerful drumming is Arctic Monkeys’ secret weapon. Certainly he’s the key ingredient in Pretty Visitors, relentlessly driving the song through a series of rhythmic twists; the frantic but precise series of rolls he plays 30 seconds in are jaw-dropping.
18. One Point Perspective (2018)
You can see why the foggy, slow-motion sound of their 2018 album Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino confounded some Arctic Monkeys fans, but there are moments of straightforward pleasure amid the opacity, not least One Point Perspective’s satire of a jaded rock star: “I’m gonna run for government / I’m gonna form a covers band an’ all.”
17. Arabella (2013)
Turner’s writing became wracked with lust towards the end of the 00s. Arabella is a supreme example of him in bedazzled lover man mode – he somehow gets away with referring to the object of his attentions as his “little lady”. The chorus’s Black Sabbath-y guitar stabs (specifically reminiscent of War Pigs) are magnificent.
16. Riot Van (2006)
Riot Van offers a brilliant framing of adolescent ennui, setting the tale of a gobby teenager’s run-in with the police to music that sounds like a sigh or a diffident shrug. The shorter, more lyrically pointed version from their much-fileshared collection of early demos, Beneath the Boardwalk, is the one to hear.
15. Only Ones Who Know (2007)
Favourite Worst Nightmare is by far Arctic Monkeys’ most uneven album; you can hear the effort involved in trying to move on from their record-breaking debut. But they sometimes succeed in style: Only Ones Who Know is a gentle, fond drawing of a couple in love, with a beautiful melody.
14. She Looks Like Fun (2018)
Social media is a topic well worn to the point of weariness but – backed by what sounds like the AM-era Arctic Monkeys sound falling to pieces – Turner’s take is funny, original and packs one of the great aphorisms of the Instagram age: “Dance as if somebody’s watching, ’cause they are”.
13. Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High? (2013)
The most coherent and powerful Arctic Monkeys album since their debut, AM attracted attention for its heavy guitar sound, but the primary influence on Why’d You Only Call Me … is clearly R&B – there’s a distinct hint of early 00s Destiny’s Child about its staccato riff. Unlikely inspiration maybe, but it works.
12. Suck It and See (2011)
“You’re rarer than a can of dandelion and burdock / And those other girls are just post-mix lemonade,” Turner sings winningly on a song that, equally winningly, matches the kind of melody you would find on a late-60s easy-listening pop hit to a mass of trebly, echoing guitars.
11. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor (2006)
The brilliance of I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor may lie in the disparity between the tone of the lyrics – wryly detached, even as they’re ogling a girl at a local indie club – and the tone of the music, which sounds like said club night at its frenzied peak.
10. Star Treatment (2018)
Blessed with the most striking opening line on Tranquility Base – “I just wanted to be one of the Strokes,” sings Turner, presumably autobiographically, “now look at the mess you made me make” – Star Treatment’s music and arrangement offers up a homage to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds that’s ambitious and entirely successful.
9. Mardy Bum (2006)
Turner began his career imitating the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas before realising that singing the way he spoke – with a Yorkshire accent – was infinitely more original and effective. Which brings us to Mardy Bum’s utterly charming, slang-packed saga of relationship strife – it wouldn’t be half as affecting in a faux-American drawl.
8. That’s Where You’re Wrong (2011)
Arctic Monkeys are good at grand finales: every one of their albums has a great closing track. Suck It and See is no exception. The guitars alternately clang and shimmer, the bass powers the whole thing along, the lyrics seem to switch between celebrating a new romance and mourning a lost one.
7. Cornerstone (2009)
A strong candidate for the title of the most straightforwardly lovely song Arctic Monkeys have ever released, Cornerstone’s greatness is focused more on the simple splendour of its melody – and indeed its guitar solo – than Turner’s words, although there are some fantastic lines in there: “I smelt your scent on the seatbelt.”
6. Fluorescent Adolescent (2007)
Turner has namechecked John Cooper Clarke and Jake Thackray as influences, but Fluorescent Adolescent suggested that, like Morrissey circa Meat Is Murder, he also paid attention to the late Victoria Wood’s songwriting. It’s easy to imagine her singing its empathic, beautifully observed depiction of a former party girl grappling with middle age.
5. R U Mine? (2012)
The first indication that their fifth album was going to be a cut above, R U Mine? is AM in microcosm. Immense, distorted riffs, thunderous drums, the lyrics a vivid tumble of pop cultural imagery, referencing everything from Sandie Shaw to Thunderbirds.
4. The View from the Afternoon (2006)
“Anticipation has a habit to set you up for disappointment,” is quite a line with which to open a hotly anticipated debut album. Rather than deflating expectations, the hugely exciting The View from the Afternoon – jagged guitars, frantic drums, brilliant lyrical drawing of the hours before a big night out begins – only succeeds in fulfilling them.
3. 505 (2007)
The belated progress of 505 from overlooked album track to one of Arctic Monkeys’ biggest songs – particularly among listeners too young to remember its original release – is fascinating. TikTok clearly played a role, but so did the sheer quality of the song: over chords borrowed from Ennio Morricone, it deals in beautifully understated melancholy.
2. Do I Wanna Know? (2013)
Do I Wanna Know? swaggers with the confidence of a band who know they have unexpectedly hit a new peak 10 years into their career. Footage from this year’s Reading festival of the teenage crowd singing along not just to Do I Wanna Know’s lyrics, but its guitar riff, underlines what a powerful beast the latter is.
1. A Certain Romance (2006)
That Turner was still in his teens when he wrote A Certain Romance is evidence of a preternatural lyrical gift. No song skewered the early 00s demonisation of “chavs” quite so effectively. It’s also a brilliantly constructed piece of writing that, in tone, suddenly executes a 180-degree turn in its final verse: whatever you think he’s saying, that’s what he’s not. But it’s also something that perhaps only a teenager could have written; he isn’t pronouncing on a social phenomenon from a distance, just talking about kids he knows from school. Meanwhile the music behind him ebbs and surges powerfully en route to its roaring instrumental climax.
