Rock music wasn’t doing too well by this point of time in 2006. Nothing, in particular, had really garnered the wider public’s attention since the late 1990s and by the mid-2000s, unless you consider Coldplay a real Rock band. Enter the Arctic Monkeys, who were based as an Indie Rock band, that broke Oasis’s old record for the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK. They made their name giving out free MP3s of their music at their own gigs. That says a lot. Although their later releases weren’t anywhere near as good as this one, this album is worth checking out in retrospect for its historical basis and for the music involved. Let’s hear it.

The View From The Afternoon begins the album with passionate rhythms and awesome Punk sounding guitars. This sounds really great. Soon enough, this launches into a good tune that, although somewhat dated today, sounds excellent. The riffing here is really fantastic and the singing is very British and almost spoken in its delivery. A very good, catchy and awesome tune to listen to, there are multiple structures and tempo changes on this tune, making it professional sounding. In the second half is a pause, followed by some angular guitar chords and playing, launching back into the song at hand. Brilliant effort, this does incredibly well. A wonderful and awesome tune, and worth your time and ears. Great music. The ending is sublime.

I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor begins with some synchronised drumming and guitar harmonics, launching into some awesome riffs and playing. This is awesome music and is a very catchy and memorable tune that is quintessentially British and lively as well. A really forward thinking and inspired tune to hear about a lady who is sending mixed messages towards a man who demands her to dance. Nonetheless, this is great music to hear, even if this was recorded at a point when Rock music was dying a slow and painful death. A great listen, the vocals by Alex Turner are brilliant. It ends with sustained chords, nice work.

Fake Tales Of San Francisco launches into it with a decent drum roll, some quirky rhythms and weird melodies to match. This is quirky music that celebrates hedonism and underage drinking, which is aimed right at teenagers here. A really cool listen, although it sounds rather try-hard-ish in its own way. It launches into a dramatic musical change in the second half, which is really energetic and punchy. There are drum rolls galore, punchy Rock guitars and some chanting present. Towards the end, a pseudo-Reggae guitar part finishes this off. Very, very good.

Dancing Shoes begins with some great singing by Alex Turner, guitar riffs galore and a decent tune to listen to. This is another quintessentially British, upbeat and danceable tune to listen to. A great and wonderful listening experience, this is the best Pop/Rock album released since the heyday of Oasis, to some extent. The guitar solo present is wailing, followed by a bass guitar and drumming breakdown before the song itself returns. Great and dramatic music.

You Probably Couldn’t See For The Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me begins with odd riffs, pounding drums and a great tune of Rock energy. It goes through various changes and rhythms, just as Alex Turner sings along nicely. This is another very good song that deserves to be heard by many out there about people in public who just don’t get it. An awesome and great tune, this is almost Punk like in its energy and passionate delivery. Decent.

Still Take You Home sounds awful from the start, with an ordinary intro and some awful guitars. This is obviously filler on this record, and the Arctic Monkeys made a very ordinary song hear to listen to. In any case, it’s okay, but you could likely skip this one. It’s about one night stands and male sexual desire. This isn’t really worth hearing, and despite the harmonies in the second half of this song, you could easily avoid this. Awful, do not listen to this song. The rhythm section is good, however.

Riot Van begins with some spoken vocals, strummed guitars and a warning to those who are against those in the so-called “riot van”. Alex Turner sings about running away from the cops and authorities for a laugh. More lyrics about underage drinking and other pursuits, and the corruption within the police force. There is a heavily reverberated guitar solo towards the end, and it reaches an unusual conclusion. Good, mellow tune.

Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured is another weird sounding tune. It has some more British vocals, quirky guitars and is an odd piece about nightlife in the UK. Nonetheless, this is musically okay, but not groundbreaking or mindblowing here. A standard Rock music tune that isn’t overly special, but is listenable anyway. Good to listen to from time to time, there are some good guitar solos here towards the end. Kind of a naff tune overall.

Mardy Bum is one of the biggest hits from the album. It has some mellow guitar strumming, to begin with, launching into another fairly odd sounding tune. It’s a weird tune all right, musically at least. A strange listen about a lover who is hugely negative, this sounds really odd and unusual. It’s a call to a lover to stop bitter arguments and instead be happy and peaceful with one another. “Remember cuddles in the kitchen to get things off the ground…” is a line about the warmth of relationships, right before this launches into a guitar solo towards the end. A good song about telling a partner to stop being argumentative, it works very well. Not bad.

Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But… begins with some clean and odd guitar riffs, before launching into a good Rock song. Again, this is a patchy listen and it has not aged as well as it could have. An okay listening experience that sounds weird and wonderful, this music is really quite danceable and quirky, even though it is not as consistent as it could be. There is a very Led Zeppelin-esque drum solo in the middle, followed by some awful guitar chords and playing. This ruins the vibe quite a lot. It just sounds really awful and poorly thought out. An ordinary tune and although there are some energetic drum rolls in the second half, it leads into a brief pause, before “All you people are vampires!” is screamed, and the song needlessly continues. Ordinary, very ordinary. A rather naff tune that outstays its welcome.

When The Sun Goes Down begins with some clean electric guitar chords, and launches into a try-hard sounding song. It’s okay, but the appeal of the album has worn off quite a bit by this time. This launches quickly into a very ordinary music jam and song that just doesn’t work that well. There are definitely moments on this album, however, this is not one of them. A really ordinary sounding piece of music, and the lyrics are pretty random. It’s okay, but this album lacks consistency after a while. A very subpar tune.

From The Ritz To The Rubble is a better song that has more of a wide appeal to youth who love clubs and nightlife. It’s okay, but the appeal of this album continues to wear off a little towards the end. Still, there is no doubt that this song is okay for what it is, even though the appeal of the music has well and truly worn off by this point. There is nothing hugely innovative or memorable about this music. The guitar riffs in the second half are actually quite good, and this tale reaches a good climax here. It builds up in pace and intensity towards the end, sounding somewhat Dead Kennedys-ish. A better song, it ends with some bass guitar riffing.

A Certain Romance is the final song on this album and the longest at over five minutes in length. It begins with some nicely pounded drum sections, weird guitars and more of the same as what has been delivered before. It quickly launches into a breakdown with some weird guitar parts that are very Coldplay-ish. Soon enough, this goes straight into a Reggae sounding tune and Alex Turner sings away nicely. Spitting out some street-style rhymes, Alex Turner sounds completely different to most other vocalists, and his delivery is uniquely working class British, more so than other bands in the past have done so. A better piece of music than the previous few tracks before it, this is minimalist postmodern Rock music for those who wonder today why Rock is dead. There is a nice melodic guitar solo section in the second half of this song, which keeps things alive. This finishes off a good debut album with an extended jam section. Soon enough, mellow guitar parts and drum hits conclude this album well, with a sustained guitar outro. Nice.

To be fair, this is not the greatest debut album ever, there have been other debut albums before and since better than this effort. However, despite this fact, it is a good album that, for the most part, works well. However, it does lack consistency musically and despite the fact that Alex Turner sounds great as a singer and the band plays well to support his stories of underage drinking and other crazy activities, this is not perfect. Still, give it a listen if you love basic Indie Rock, otherwise don’t bother with it, to be fair.

Common people’s music.

7/10