Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002.
The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, backing vocals)
2002–2005: Early years and record deal
The Arctic Monkeys were formed in mid-2002 by friends Alex Turner, Matt Helders, and Andy Nicholson. Turner and Helders were neighbours and close friends, and they met Nicholson in secondary school. Turner, who had grown up in a musical household as his father was a music teacher, played guitar in the then-instrumental-only band, with Helders on drums, Nicholson on bass, and a new band member, Jamie Cook as a second guitarist
2006: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
The band finished recording their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire in September 2005 with British record producer Jim Abbiss producing. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history, selling 363,735 copies in the first week.
2007: Favourite Worst Nightmare
The band's second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, was released on 23 April 2007, a week after the release of accompanying single "Brianstorm". Like its predecessor, Favourite Worst Nightmare also quickly reached No. 1 in the album charts. Turner described the songs as "very different from last time", adding that the sound of some tracks are "a bit full-on – a bit like "From the Ritz to the Rubble", "The View from the Afternoon", that sort of thing". A secret gig played at Sheffield's Leadmill on 10 February 2007, debuted seven new songs (six from Favourite Worst Nightmare and one other). Early reviews of the release were positive, and described it as "very, very fast and very, very loud".
2008–2010: Humbug
After a brief hiatus during which Turner toured and recorded with his side project the Last Shadow Puppets,[9] the band recorded half the album at Rancho De La Luna recording sessions with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age in early autumn, 2008, and half in the New York sessions with James Ford in spring, 2009, following their January tour of New Zealand and Australia. During this tour, lead single "Crying Lightning", along with Humbug songs "Pretty Visitors", "Dangerous Animals", and "Potion Approaching" (then known as "Go-Kart"), was debuted live. It was later revealed by Matt Helders in a video diary that the album would consist of 14 tracks and that Turner would stay in New York to oversee the mixing of the material. However, the final track listing, revealed on 1 June 2009, listed only 10.
2011–2012: Suck It and See
NME reported in May 2011 that the band were teaming up with producer James Ford once again, and would be releasing their fourth studio album in late spring at the earliest.[104] Q magazine reported that the fourth Arctic Monkeys album would be of a "more accessible vintage" than Humbug.[105] Q printed edition 299 states "It's the sound of a band drawing back the curtains and letting the sunshine in".[106]
2013–2016: AM
On 26 February 2012, the band released a new song titled "R U Mine?" on their YouTube channel.[9][138] On 4 March, it went to No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart on downloads alone.[139] On 21 April, the song was released as a single, with the track "Electricity" as a B-side, released additionally for Record Store Day.[9]
2017–present: Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
The album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino was released on 11 May 2018.[179] The band headlined a handful of festivals in summer 2018, included Firefly Music Festival.,[180] TRNSMT.,[181] Rock Werchter.,[182] Lollapalooza.,[183] Austin City Limits Music Festival.,[184] and the Voodoo Experience.[185] Despite its stylistic deviation polarising listeners, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino was released to generally positive reviews and nominated for the 2018 Mercury Prize for best album and the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.[186][187] It became the band's sixth consecutive number-one debut in the UK, and the country's fastest-selling vinyl record in 25 years.