WRMC 91.1 FM On Rotation

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"The Arctic Monkeys are burning up the charts" or "There's nothing chilly in fans' responses to the hottest new band out of the UK." Those are just a few very unfortunate taglines that manifested themselves in my head as I listened to The Arctic Monkeys' February release, Whatever People Say That I Am, That's What I'm Not. Regrettably, actual headlines sprawled across such I-am-so-scene-I-don't-even-know-of-half-of-the-bands-on-my-iPod magazines as AP and Paste. One magazine (which shall remain unnamed, even though it is supposed to be the paradigm of accurate representation of this tumultuous and often confusing culture in which we live) hailed this ensemble of awkward teenage boys as one of the top five bands to come out of the United Kingdom - EVER. A completely valid statement, in my opinion, if one can only forget The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Oasis, The Smiths, and oh, yeah, The Beatles.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the Arctic Monkeys' rough vocals and clanking guitars are endearing - I listen to Whatever People Say, and actually enjoy it. Their hit single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" sounds just as catchy in my room on a Saturday night as it does on every college radio station across the planet (trust me, somewhere a college radio station is playing that song at this very moment). There are also some other stand-out tracks on the album such as the resonant "Fake Tales of San Francisco" and the poetic, dark-hued "When The Sun Goes Down." However, I am not pleased to have the Arctic Monkeys hailed as "the defining band of our generation." Granted, the music industry hasn't had something new and exciting to latch itself religiously onto for a depressingly long time. Our generation is responsible for the boy-band boom as well as the musical stylings of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. However, I think it a little rash, as well as a little frightening, to crown a group of four guys who have only released one full-length album as the saviors of rock and roll - no matter how impressive the credentials.

And oh, they are impressive ­- to employ a phrase gratuitously used by today's youth, The Arctic Monkeys have spunk, I ain't gonna lie. Within a week of its release, their album sold a jaw-dropping 118, 501 copies, which not only made it the fastest-selling debut ever, but it also sold more than the rest of the Top 20 combined. So there's obviously something there. Maybe it's lead singer Alex Turner's lyrics - references to the Capulets are indeed more refreshing that of pimps and hos, but still his writerly ambitions fall short as he treads the well-worn paths of dance floor hook-ups and underage drinking. Perchance it's their angular guitar riffs which rip through the songs quicker than you can say, "Wow, that sounds surprisingly like The Strokes." The Artic Monkeys are proof that indie rock will never die because we continue to take the same catchy beats and harsh vocals, and dress them up in progressively more ridiculous band names. Something I personally don't have a problem with (the 90s were the decade for me), but it's when the industry starts tripping over itself to prove that we can still be surprised that I get a little peeved.

And when you step back and look at some of the ludicrous praise that this band has garnered, you can't help but feel bad for the quartet out of Sheffield who sent their album out into the world like a lamb to the slaughter (hey, not only the Arctic Monkeys get to be cliché). No band could live up to that type of press, however, the band did show a surprising amount of foresight in the naming of their gift unto the world - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not definitely is not the defining album of our generation, and it certainly isn't one of the best albums to come out of England. However, it is one of the better albums of 2006, and it does prove that the Brits have not lost their knack for good ole rock n'roll.