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: #411 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.

It's good and it gets better
I've had this CD for some time now and I have to say I never tire of it. I loved it when I first heard it and it just continues to grow on me as time goes by. It's great for working out to! I suspect it all depends on what kind of music you enjoy - if all those years ago you were, like me, utterly bored by the 70s and the dirge that was Soul and look on the Punk bands as the saviours of music, I suspect you will enjoy this album. It's more 'neo-punk' than Indie to me. If you are tired of the homogeneous 'easy listening' that so many performers roll out (David Gray, James Blunt, etc), you may see this as that breath of fresh air - something just a little different.

Mediocre
Compared with other debuts doing the rounds, this album is mediocre. I was expecting more of the guitar indie pop with hooks that the singles had; it didn't deliver them.

These lot should not have had the praise heaped upon them that they have. I expect we'll all be wondering 'whatever happened to the arctic monkeys?' by this time next year.

If you're waivering about buying and don't own the 'We are Scientists' album, buy that instead. In fact, buy anything else instead.....