Arctic Monkeys

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006) A– 11.2.1.7

Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007) B+

1. When the Sun Goes Down
2. Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts
3. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
4. Fluorescent Adolescent

The inaccurate Family Guy joke about how Randy Newman sings what he sees would be better applied to Alex Turner. His detached manner even when implicated is a relief in an emo era. The band's hype-sucking debut single, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” wasn't as good as its B-side, the skinny kid's shrug “Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts”. On the follow-up “When the Sun Goes Down”, guitarist Jamie Cook proved to be a talented though hardly unprecedented riffer. The full-lengths Whatever People Say I Am... and Favourite Worst Nightmare were both strong, without peaking any higher than those early singles.