I've got the power... oh no, I don't

Super power outage at work today, from about 7am this morning to lunchtime, has quite thrown the rhythm of my whole day.

The Arctic Monkeys are getting quite a lot of press aren't they? I don't think we've seen the like since the Oasis v Blur days of the mid '90s... They kind of crept up on me, we've had demos and things in at work for ages so their super humungousness has caught me by surprise. Everyone at work seemed to realise they were the future of music (or at least the sound of '06), but I've been a bit ambivalent to them. The album is GOOD though, I'm sure everyone has it by now (it being the fastest selling "rock" debut ever and all) but if not, I recommend it. Now they've taken the place of say The Darkness in the collective consciousness, it's become cool to slag them off; please don't fall into the "i hate them more than you hate them" trap, it's a bit dull...

While I'm here though, there is one thing that's bugging me - how many people out there sing in a regional accent? There's not many I can think of, maybe that's why these guys sound so fresh. The only artists I could immediately (when I formulated this theory a couple of weeks ago) think of are George Formby, Chas'n'Dave, and The Proclaimers, though I've since been reminded of The Futureheads and their close relations Maximo Park. If we can discount these last two - and indeed anyone who proves my theory wrong - then it's FACT that only novelty acts sing in anything other than a generic mid-atlantic singing accent. While I'm on a roll, I'm not that keen on the band's other gimmick, this Streets style "stream of everything" lyrics - write a song, think about the situation, ram every single detail and thought you have about that situation into the lyrics.

I did come here to praise the 'Monkeys though, not to bury them. It's great that they've made it super large without the permission of the press, hardly doing interviews, not doing TOTP etc. It's not quite true that they've done it by the power of "viral marketing" as heard on Newsnight... I don't think it was anything cynical, they just gave away tracks online and said "come back if you want to hear more" didn't they? Calling it viral marketing makes it sound like it was dreamed up by some agency. Will be interesting to see the knock on effects this has on the music industry. Every label will be looking for their own Arctic Monkeys, and if this means a load of free tracks by some good bands, then bring it on.

Last night I dreamt, that we got a puppy, and it came in a box, with a ribbon round it.

Sultans of Ping, that's another one that sings in an accent.

pauly :: 2006 :: Comment / reply