The Arctic Monkeys song inspired by The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys had a monumental impact on music. They innovated the recording process, pioneered pop and arguably gifted the world with the greatest song of all time in ‘God Only Knows’. Their sound and influence can be found in every genre and generation of music that has succeeded them, from their British peers The Beatles to the harmonic experimentations of Animal Collective.
Though Arctic Monkeys’ darker indie sound may often seem worlds away from the sunny soundscapes of The Beach Boys, the influence of Brian Wilson and his bandmates can still be found in their catalogue. Growing up in the suburbs of Sheffield, a young Alex Turner found himself captivated by the sounds of California.
The future frontman used to listen to The Beach Boys’ magnum opus, Pet Sounds, in his father’s car. The record even prompted Turner to get more into music, and he described to Exclaim, “Why I suppose I got interested in music in the first place as to do with [Pet Sounds]. I’ve always believed there’s not much of a choice you have when you listen to that record.”
“You’re forced to feel something,” he explained, “whether you’re a 32-year-old or a 6-year-old as I probably was when I first heard it.”
Pet Sounds certainly was transcendental, pushing pop further than ever before and earning a place in music history as a result. The early influence of The Beach Boys on Turner persisted into adulthood and into his music career, where he would try and emulate that feeling in his own output.
There is one Arctic Monkeys song in particular that Turner has suggested emulates The Beach Boys’ sound the most – the titular track from their 2011 fourth studio record, Suck It and See. The record took the Sheffield band into slightly lighter territory, so it was the perfect place to channel Turner’s love for surf pop.
‘Suck It and See’ is a classic Alex Turner love song, one that compares the object of his affections to a studded leather headlock and dandelion and burdock. Between the classically dark and British romanticism of the lyrics, though, the song contains an undeniable Beach Boys quality.
“Suck it and see, you never know,” Turner sings in the chorus, his words immediately followed by glorious harmonies. The frontman himself noted the Beach Boys-esque quality of the song, telling NME, “It just sort of came to me that melody and chorus, it’s quite Beach Boys-y, which is something I’ve been listening to a lot recently, and always have. We decided to make it the title track quite near the end.”
Revisit ‘Suck It and See’ below.
