“Hey Mom, can I have some tea?”: Liam Gallagher explains his problem with Arctic Monkeys
Following the Britpop era, indie rock enjoyed a renaissance on both sides of the Atlantic. The Strokes ignited a particularly inspiring scene in New York City in the early 2000s, which also saw Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and LCD Soundsystem emerge as promising acts. Around this time, a group of teenagers called Arctic Monkeys began making a few ripples in Sheffield.
As one of the first musical artists to take advantage of the internet age, Arctic Monkeys consolidated their early following using Myspace and MP3 downloads. Fans could access the band’s music online and began to demand shows far beyond Sheffield’s city limits. In 2006, Arctic Monkeys finally broke through to international acclaim with Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.
The masterpiece debut album is among the 2000s’ most influential, with very few finding a way to fault it. With an accessible guitar-led indie sound, frontman Alex Turner displayed his impressive knack for lyricism, painting a vivid portrait of urban life in the North of the UK. The lines, “Well, oh, they might wear classic Reeboks / Or knackered Converse, or tracky bottoms tucked in socks / But all of that’s what the point is not / The point’s that there ain’t no romance around there,” is among Turner’s many evocative flourishes on the album.
Over the years, Arctic Monkeys gradually evolved their sound, with milestone changes occurring in 2013’s AM, which debuted a more anthemic sound, and Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, a dramatic change of pace in a lounge pop guise. In the 2010s, Turner began to receive criticism for losing touch with his Sheffield roots as he began to spend more time in the US.
Tranquillity Base Hotel and Casino became a final straw for some fans as perhaps the most divisive record yet. Ironically, the album seemed to reverse ‘From the Ritz to the Rubble’, a title from the debut album. By 2018, Arctic Monkeys had left the streets of Sheffield far behind as they lounged around in a lavish hotel on the Moon.
Among the band’s early supporters who later became alienated was Liam Gallagher, one of Arctic Monkeys’ most pivotal influences. Speaking to Pitchfork in 2012, Turner recalled the time he and drummer Matt Helders mimed Oasis’ ‘Morning Glory’ in front of their school using tennis racquets as air guitars. “With Oasis, it’s just that attitude, like it’s resistant against everything else that’s going on in music,” he reflected. “I don’t know if you can fully understand that, it’s like an impulse, isn’t it? Especially at that age, you don’t rationalise; you’re just like, ‘That looks cool.'”
In 2017, Liam Gallagher criticised Turner’s changing accent and fashion sense as a sign that he was losing touch with his roots. “They’ve been to America once, and they come back, and he starts speaking American, you know what I mean? They’re the ones, like the geezer out the Arctic Monkeys – he did it, didn’t he, you know what I mean?” he said.
Funnily enough, the Oasis frontman seemed to have a dig at Turner’s arrogant style choices. “He started getting his hair in a quiff and that and a big biker leather jacket on, you know what I mean, and it’s like, when he goes back to his Mam’s, does he really walk in the door with that biker leather jacket on and go, ‘Hey Mom, can I have some tea?’ She’s gonna give him a clip, isn’t she, you know what I mean?” Liam added. “He lost his Yorkshire accent.”
As a man of famous arrogance, Liam’s criticisms are mostly based on Arctic Monkeys’ detachment from northern roots. Furthermore, everything the confrontational singer says should be taken with a pinch of salt. He and Turner seem to get on well these days, so supposedly, they still admire one another after a reconciliatory pint.
