“What came first, the chicken or the dickhead?” seems a rather odd question from an evolutionary standpoint, but from the mouth of the Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner, it seems fairly ordinary. Making the odd/edgy seem normal is a theme not hard to find on the Sheffield band’s latest release, Humbug, where the band seems to have fallen into a state of normalcy, despite having the inertia to delve into exciting, new territory.
With 2006’s Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, the Monkeys found a quick rise to fame under the guise of Brit-punk one liners and the pentatonic scale—a direction they stepped away from only slightly with the following year’s Favourite Worst Nightmare, where the band demonstrated a marginally louder, faster, heavier, and twangier side of themselves. Humbug is the portrait of the Arctic Monkeys as artists who have filled their own niche, and it’s a shame to say that these frigid primates may have backed themselves into a corner by developing their sound far too slowly. This isn’t to say the Humbug doesn’t offer a fair assortment of good tracks, as the album may contain some of the band’s most entertaining songs yet, but nothing here feels new.
Their sound has evolved ever so slightly, with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme at the helm of production, but from the opening drum roll of “My Propeller,” listeners may wonder if they’ve heard this album before. Tracks like “Crying Light” and “Pretty Visitors”distinguish themselves from the morass. Perhaps not coincidentally, both showcase singer and lyricist Alex Turner mastering the art of dialect and annunciation, words rolling off his tongue in a distinctly crisp manner.
The Arctic Monkeys haven’t done anything wrong here, but Humbug’s sense of familiarity simply makes it stale. They’ve put together a collection of songs that would have made an impact a few years ago, but now simply fall by the wayside at notice of the band’s earlier catalog. Bah!
Voice’s Choices: “Crying Light,” “Pretty Visitors,” “Cornerstone”
