The unknown 1980s song that inspired Arctic Monkeys to write ‘Mad Sounds’
The world is slowly but surely coming around to the idea that Sheffield’s own Arctic Monkeys are not only one of the best bands around; they are in contention for being considered one of the best bands of all time. Their latest album The Car signified a huge step forward for the group. They confirmed themselves as consummate musicians, unbothered by genre and undeterred by categorisation through a rich tapestry of expertly crafted songs.
The band, comprised of Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Matt Helders and Nick O’Malley, have rightly asserted themselves as legendary songwriters, as able to craft rip-roaring rock and roll anthems as delicately soundtrack the launch of spaceships on the moon. It’s a unique skill, there can be no doubt, but the band still use the work of others as sources of inspiration for the songs, much like ‘Mad Sounds’ from 2013’s AM.
The album is a divisive one in itself. While many would consider the album one of the group’s pivotal stepping stones to their status as best in the business, for many, it came across as deliberately crafted to soundtrack the indie films of the moment. It feels like a deliberate attempt for the band to become a commercial powerhouse, with songs like ‘Why Do You Only Call Me When You’re High?’, ‘R U Mine’, ‘Arabella’ and ‘Do I Wanna Know’ were mainstays of college radio.
Topping the charts in countries across the globe, the LP is one of the band’s most successful. Influenced by some of rock’s biggest names, including Josh Homme, who helped with production, David Bowie, whose Ziggy album was the only one they played in the studio, and a host of acts Turner cited as an influence (including Outkast, Black Sabbath and more), the album certainly has the credentials the be considered done of the band’s best. But while numerous figures helped propel the record to new heights, one song was highly influenced by the little-known 1980s singer Alan Smyth.
In fact, Smyth is so little known there is very little content online for us to enjoy, least of all finding the song that is so inextricably linked to Turner and the rest of the band. That song, ‘Mad Sounds’, would go on to inspire the band to create their own track of the same name, with Turner telling NME about hearing the song in 2004 and then using it as a base for his own tune: “We’d always listen to it and I always remembered this bit coming in – [sings] ‘mad sounds, in your ear…’ – so we built this one around it.”
The entire album is built from composites of Turner and the band’s favourite artists, but perhaps nobody had a more significant influence on the album than Lou Reed. Not only did the band pay homage to Reed’s group, The Velvet Underground, with AM being a nod to the constant abbreviation of the Velvets’ name to VU, but Reed’s own LP Transformer was equally inspirational: “I actually wanted the whole record to have a bit of a Transformer thing about it, like you’d need to have a shower after it… For me, that tune brings you back to life. That tune’s a song about songs, you know? So it’s about when you’ve got those sort of tunes that energise you somehow, or evoke something from inside you [like]… ‘Walk On The Wild Side.”’
AM may stand out as one of the crucial moments of Arctic Monkeys’ career, and they may also have been inspired by some of the biggest figures in the industry, but underneath it all, there is four lads using their talent as vessels for their expression, whether inspiration rebounds from Lou Reed or little old Alan Smyth.
