Arctic Monkeys: Still Cool?

This Sheffield, England, Brit-rock band’s Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not was a critically adored, Mercury Prize–winning juggernaut that made 2.3 million people worldwide temporarily forget that they didn’t buy CDs anymore. (It was the fastest-selling British debut of all time). But what of the sequel, Favourite Worst Nightmare?

Rave: “Nightmare sounds confident, unlabored, and just plain good — English cool without English bullshit. The Arctic Monkeys are the new Arctic Monkeys.” — Christian Hoard, Rolling Stone

Rant (sort of): “In the tradition of thorny newbie bands that get scarily too big (Nirvana, Radiohead, Weezer), they’ve followed their funny, catchy debut with a less funny, less catchy second record to prove how little they trust the good times their music obviously inspires … Even when they’re trying to show how easily they can see through love’s dumb artifice and pop culture’s stupid head games, they have to admit they’re as mystified as everyone else.” — Jon Dolan, Blender — Lane Brown