Suck It And See- Arctic Monkeys

Far from a return to their roots, album number four finds Turner & co pushing forward.

In a recent interview, Alex Turner described his Arctic Monkeys’ in three words: “Riffs, funny, loud.” As disparaging a representation of their smart, dark indie rock that may be, it’s clearly what his audience are looking for. Many fans were turned off by the brave, far-catchier-than-you-remember third album Humbug, which found idol Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age doping up the impressionable Sheffield lads, engulfing them in a thick, paranoid fog.

Wherever you stand on the Humbug debate, the “funny” bit of the equation was missing. So there has been plenty of excited chatter leading up to naughty-titled follow up Suck It And See, the band’s reunion with Favourite Worst Nightmare producer James Ford suggested as a return to the sharp riffs and witty observation of their breakthrough material.

As it turns out, and to the band’s credit, this isn’t quite true. Instead, Homme still lingers over the record’s first half, but Ford blows a cold wind, clearing the mist and bringing everything into sharper focus. Nowhere is this clearer than on first single “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair”. Despite it being slightly lead-footed in places, it’s packed with riffs that swim to dark places. It carries a certain swagger and confidence missing from Humbug, as well as a bubblegum-with-razorblades “ooh-ooh” refrain and lyrics just our to have fun, dispensing advice like “go into business with a grizzly bear” and “wear your shell suit on bonfire night”.

It’s a starting point though, and other songs rock far more convincingly. Brick By Brick is the most balls-to-the-wall track, drummer Matt Helders helming a beautifully dumb one-chord race to the finish line. Library Pictures is even better, tribal drums and feedback brought to the front, Turner relishing his chance to show off some full-blooded “ip-dip-dog-shit-rock-and-roll”.

As exciting as those songs are, it’s the softer moments that stand tallest, cribbing some of the more cerebral and romantic moves from Alex Turner’s Submarine soundtrack. “The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala” is ideal for the next single, a soft-focus singalong, with that title (and oh what song titles!) circling for the big sing-a-long chorus. All My Own Stunts punches giddy highs in the chorus, before racing back down like a rollercoaster, while Piledriver Waltz is as lovely and woozy as the title suggests. Love Is A Laserquest is a piece of near-genius, with Turner’s words at their most poetic, looking back at a childhood romance gone sour (“I’m sure you’re still breaking hearts/With the efficiency that only youth can harness.”), while his voice across the record is nuanced and lilting, in quieter moments sounding like a harder-bitten Morrissey.

It’s not quite killer enough to avoid filler- the title track for one is forgettable (save the lyric “You’re rarer than a can of dandelion and burdock”)- but the new romantic side to the band is quite a revelation. Far from a so-called return to form, Suck It And See finds the Monkeys refusing to rest on their laurels, pushing forward rather than looking back to previous successes. And for that, they should be celebrated.

4/5

Best Tracks:
Love Is A Laserquest
Piledriver Waltz
Library Pictures
The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala

Bon Iver- Bon Iver

Justin Vernon emerges back into the world, blinking in the sunlight

Kanye West may be many things, but no one- be it celebrators or detractors- could call him subtle. He deals in bombast, be it simply rapping over a Daft Punk song and then releasing it as a single or cavorting at the Brits with 50 gold-plated ladies.

But towards the end of his acclaimed last album, something very odd happens. Suddenly away from the bragging and self-indulgence, the heavily-autotuned-but-still-heavily-recognisable voice of Bon Iver front man looms large (or quiet, as is his style). It’s not all that effective, but it’s the bizarre endpoint of a slow-and-steady Earth swallowing two years in the making.

Bon Iver’s first album For Emma, Forever Ago was a critical monster, rightly lauded as a masterpiece. So how do you follow it up? Well, Vernon’s answer seems to initially be go 80s. Despite the baulking that may induce, with the exception of the woeful final track Beth/Rest (a horrible, Jennifer Rush-styled ballads, complete with an unbearable drum machine backing), this just means infusing everything with a beautiful keyboard wash.

This then, is the yin to For Emma...’s yang. Where the former was lost in despair and gut-wrenching regret, the eponymous follow-up is the sound of a man emerging from the wood cabin For Emma...was written is and quite literally rediscovering the outside world. Rather than just use them to fill in the blanks, Vernon has employed his band as full collaborators, making the sound less intimate than before, but no less warm, and filled with sheer warmth.

The difference is immediately clear. Opener “Perth” spreads out in the earlobes, the synth wash utterly reassuring. Here and on the wonderful “Holocene”, brushes tap out a gentle military beat, just enough to give the album a forward momentum not previously possible, while Vernon himself really tests where he can take that emotion-packed voice of his. Across the record, it’s less affected then ever, no longer shyly disguised but brought front-and-centre. “Minnesota, WI” and Hinnom, TX (yep, all the titles are named after places important to the band, further extending that personal touch) find that voice even venturing lower in the register, revealing a powerful baritone burr hitherto unheard.

As nice as the sonic warm glow is, it does occasionally have the effect of losing individual high points- it’s an overall masterpiece rather than leaving songs stuck in your head for days. Lead-off single Calgary is the exception as the best thing on offer, shuffling along before bursting wide open in its glorious, soaring chorus.

On For Emma...Justin Vernon managed the most amazing thing, breaking stony hearts both critical and public across the globe. For the follow-up, he clearly set himself the target of gluing them back together. Thanks to this album’s intense joyful power, it’s something he’s achieved with ease.

5/5
Best Tracks:
Calgary
Holocene
Perth
Minnesota, WI