Yard Act on the enduring nostalgia of Arctic Monkeys: “I absolutely love the sentiment of it”
James Smith, Ryan Needham, Sam Shipstone, and Jay Russell, better known as Yard Act, know all too well the pretence of success. In fact, in their view, getting a taste of the big time comes with bigger lessons, like “realising that the misery and problems still exist all the same”. This type of cynical outlook makes them ideal consumers of Arctic Monkeys’ earlier material, which chronicled a coming-of-age chapter that most of us will never forget.
A large portion of Yard Act’s enduring appeal, much like their Sheffield idols, is their ability to get real with their audience. Much like Alex Turner likely did in the early days, Yard Act try hard not to overthink things and usually shun effort in favour of a more organic approach. As Smith once explained, the best results are the ones that are more “crafted and meticulous”.
Similarly, Arctic Monkeys’ debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, came about as a product of the quartet’s unrelenting desire to become the next The Strokes. Taking this inspiration and melding it with a raw lyricism that reflected their own personal experiences growing up as young boys in Sheffield, the album became the ultimate staple of the early 2000s indie revival and the quintessential ode to going out and getting messy.
While Turner’s entire demeanour has since entirely transitioned from such sentiments, Smith maintains that this was the band at their pinnacle. Moreover, there’s one song in particular that sits above the rest. “I think ‘A Certain Romance’ is the best track on that album,” he told The Line of Best Fit. Continuing, “I absolutely love the sentiment of it. It sounds like my teenage years, and it really reminds me of that time, which was when that album came out.”
Discussing its cultural appeal, Smith described it as the perfect tribute to the “tribalism of high school” and the ways it started to fade. At this time, he recalls everyone starting “to go to the same parties and become friends.” He also explains how he often likes to view music through a nostalgic lens, which Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not is the ideal ammo for.
In fact, the entire album has become overwhelmingly nostalgic for a large portion of Arctic Monkeys’ audience, who often revisit the record to relive many of the quintessential aspects of their own youth. Songs like ‘A Certain Romance’ represent this as Turner sings about classic Reebox, knackered Converse, and the inevitable exhaustion that comes with depleting youthful parties and fading northern innocence.
Although Smith also appreciates ‘Riot Van’ for similar reasons, he claims that ‘A Certain Romance’ brings the entire album together. As a result, Smith admitted he also “took a leaf from [Turner’s] book when organising the new [Yard Act] album,” which he achieved by constructing a record that ensured all tracks pointed to one perfect moment at the end. While Arctic Monkeys’ album does so with ‘A Certain Romance’ alone, Smiths says Yard Act managed it with three: ‘100% Endurance’, ‘A Vineyard for the North’, and ‘Blackpool Illuminations’.
