CRITIC'S CHOICE
REVIEWED BY CHUCK ARNOLD
INDIE ROCK
When it comes to establishing real staying power in the flavor-of-the-month pop scene, the second album is critical. Never more so than for Britain's Arctic Monkeys, whose much-hyped 2006 debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, was an instant classic, the kind that would almost make a sophomore slump inevitable. But Arctic Monkeys bring the heat again on Favourite Worst Nightmare, which comes about as close to matching Whatever as one could have reasonably expected. Although Nick O'Malley has replaced Andy Nicholson on bass, the Monkeys—and their awesome rhythm section—don't miss a beat from the blistering opener "Brianstorm," which, with its gale-force guitars and rumbling drums, sucks you in like a tornado. Elsewhere, these lads get downright funky on propulsive tracks like "D Is for Dangerous." And frontman Alex Turner can still turn out a killer lyric. On "Fluorescent Adolescent" he sings about a girl gone unwild: "You used to get it in your fishnets/Now you only get it in your nightdress." Luckily, though, these Monkeys won't be tamed anytime soon.
DOWNLOAD THIS: "Fluorescent Adolescent"
