Track Listing

1. The View From The Afternoon
2. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
3. Fake Tales Of San Francisco
4. Dancing Shoes
5. You Probably Couldn�t See For The Lights But You Were Looking Straight At Me
6. Still Take You Home
7. Riot Van
8. Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured
9. Mardy Bum
10. Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But..
11. When The Sun Goes Down
12. From The Ritz To The Rubble
13. A Certain Romance

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #266 in Music
• Released on: 2006-01-23
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Hot on the heels of their shock No.1 single "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor", Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not confirms Sheffield’s Arctic Monkeys as the UK underground’s most proselytising young preachers of the DIY gospel. Marrying nervy, caffeine-and-cigarettes indie clatter to conversational, pretence-free lyrics and the occasional burst of off-the-cuff eloquence--"No time for Montagues or Capulets/Just banging tunes and DJ sets", proffers "…Dancefloor"--it’s an instant, pulse-racing hit.

No question, the Monkeys are more sinners than saints. The opening "The View From The Afternoon" predicts a ruckus with a whole lot more grit than the Kaisers can muster, while on the mellow "Riot Van", a tale of underage drinking and cop-baiting culminates in a messy beating in the back of a station-wagon. Look beyond the Arctics’ bristly, laddish exterior, however, because it’s actually affairs of the heart that comprise this album’s secret core: see the sweaty-palmed "Dancing Shoes", bearing testament to the trial of nerves that is pulling in a suburban indie nightclub, or "Mardy Bum"--tribute to a moody girlfriend that, for all its witty barbs ("I’ve seen your frown and it’s like looking down the barrel of a gun"), is tinted with sweet affection.--Louis Pattison

CD Description
Debut album from Sheffield-born quartet the Arctic Monkeys.Even before the release of this first offering, the band were being touted as the next big thing. With their mix of melodic pop, fused with a punk-garage edge, their sound appealsto the alternative rock crowd. Their first single. 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor', which went straight in at No.1 in the UK singles chart, is included.

Customer Reviews

Up There With Ray, Paul and Noel
At 51, I am surely not the type of listener the Arctic Monkeys were aiming for. But, having heard Johnnie Walker play the track "Mardy Bum" and being wowed by it, I got a young colleague to lend me his copy of the album. It's wonderful. On first hearing, my "elderly" ears were about to dismiss it as a row, then the lyrics got through. I think Alex Turner is as excellent a spokesman for his generation as Ray Davies, Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher before him. Much more appropriate (and clever) than the whingeing of the likes of James Blunt. A superb album.

Arctic Monkeys
I love the Arctic Monkeys. They're my favourite band. I'm 16 and I first heard them after reading about them in the NME. I loved them then (around last august) and I love them even more now. Does this make me a 'naive teen' who's been manipulated by media hype? You might disagree, but I don't think so.

I have nothing against people over 25 who buy music, but it seems to me that most bands who are considered 'great british bands' (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Jam, Oasis) are ones that have captured the imagination of the nation's teenagers. So I don't think it is fair to call the people buying this album 'naive teens'.

Im not stupid, but I havn't got a clue what an 'emotive chord sequence' sounds like. I can, on the other hand, relate to the emotion felt for a moody girlfriend in 'Mardy Bum' or the lust felt in 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'. The Arctic Monkeys have made a connection with the young music buying people of this country, and they should be congratulated not ridiculed for that.

Great Start
When I got this album, I found myself listening to it over and over again. The best song on the album is I bet that you look good on the dancefloor and When the sun goes down isn't far behind. The only poor song on the album really is Riot van, however except that this is an excellent album. People who say Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs are better are wrong because the Arctic Monkeys are a more individual rock/indie band. Everyone will like the Kaiser Chiefs with their radio-friendly and catchy lyrics but the Arctic Monkeys are something different. I am not saying I don't like the Kaiser Chiefs or Franz Ferdinand's first album (however overrated the second is) but to be honest you either love or hate the Arctic Monkeys rhythmic indie/rock sound or you don't and I believe more people do. The second album is good as well but I won't go on about that. So all in all, the Arctic Monkeys have bucked the trend of normal rock bands with boring lyrics (this doesn't include the Kaiser Chiefs) and have produced a masterpiece.