The song that predicted the evolution of the Arctic Monkeys: “Not lining up to be Play-Doh”
When Arctic Monkeys released Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino in 2018, fans were surprised by the band’s apparent change in musical direction, ditching anthemic choruses and riffs for loungey crooning. The record hardly sounded like the music that made them famous back in the mid-2000s when they were scruffy young lads barely out of their teen years, but that’s to be expected when you’ve aged over a decade. Still, many fans were disappointed.
It took swathes of devoted Arctic Monkeys listeners a long time to come around to the joys of the record, which weaves sci-fi themes into a loose concept album set on another planet. Alex Turner sings about Blade Runner, technological advances, and the apocalypse, taking inspiration from French chanson singers, 1960s movie scores and 2001: A Space Odyssey. There’s also a clear throughline between Tranquility Base and the album Turner had previously made with The Last Shadow Puppets, Everything You’ve Come To Expect.
The record was a natural progression in the band’s sound, moving away from the indie rock they’d started out with. While AM was heavier than a lot of what they’d done before, the foursome ultimately chose to do something a bit different, crafting a cohesive vintage sci-fi atmosphere that listeners could get completely lost in. They’d come to be one of the biggest bands in the modern rock landscape; though it would be easier to appease fans and make another album akin to AM, Arctic Monkeys evidently realised that by harnessing such a large fanbase, they had the ability to do something completely new with less risk. Even if half of their fans hated it, they’d still have millions of listeners.
Despite the divisive reaction to the record, the band were safe in the knowledge that they’d made an album that was authentic and creative rather than fading into unoriginality. When 2022’s The Car came out, taking a further step away from indie rock, many fans continued to express their disappointment, stating how they missed the ‘old Arctic Monkeys’. While Tranquility Base and The Car have divided fans, it’s hard to deny the quality of the records, with Turner crafting rich lyrical observations while cinematic strings or moody synths stretch out behind him. Whether you love or hate the albums, by releasing them, the band proved they weren’t out to please anyone but themselves.
Fans really shouldn’t have been shocked by this sonic switch-up when Tranquility Base came out in 2018, though. From the very beginning, they had made it clear that they were always going to evolve – they even penned a song to prove it. In 2006, the band released the EP Who the Fuck are Arctic Monkeys?, shortly after their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. The titular track was a hit against the music industry, with which they’d just become acquainted, asserting that no matter their fame, the group were not going to give into the demands of labels, executives or fans.
Turner sings, “Cause everybody’s got their box/ Doing what they’re told,” referencing the way that the industry often forces artists into certain sounds and images, “But we’ll stick to the guns,” he reassures. The singer even affirms that they’ll do whatever they like, even if it’s “marketing suicide,” adding, “We won’t crack or compromise.” The band had just experienced a sudden burst of fame after releasing their first album, and while they didn’t know just how much bigger they’d get, the song indicates a preparedness from Turner, ready to take on the industry.
“Not lining up to be Play-Doh/ Oh, in five years’ time will it be/ ‘Who the fuck’s Arctic Monkeys?’” he sings, practically foreshadowing the band’s coming years. With the release of their previous two albums, many fans declared that the group sounded unrecognisable, but they have said it from the start: Arctic Monkeys will never be moulded into something they’re not.
