Arctic Monkeys
Favourite Worst Nightmare LP vinyl

Plenty of bands have been faced with the difficulty of following up successful debuts this year (Bloc Party and Arcade Fire to name but two), but only Arctic monkeys shall be faced with the irksome proposition of having to deliver a follow-up to the fastest selling debut album in UK history. Favourite Worst Nightmare seems to sidestep much of that pressure by continuing in a similar vein. Where most bands might get an orchestra involved or even toss in a few electronic beats here and there, the Monkeys seem happy to keep their heads down and craft another serving of finely honed new wave guitars and wry lyrical observations. The first four tracks (which include the superb opener, and single, 'Brianstorm') keep the tempo high and the sound rowdy, which is very much the tone for the album, but the more gently melodic 'Fluorescent Adolescent' proves to be a particular standout, vaguely reminiscent of Squeeze's 'Up The Junction' in addition to the usual cocktail of hipster reference points. 'Old Yellow Bricks' is similarly memorable; a mighty slab of punk funk with some curious Knightrider theme-tune-apeing guitar licks. Not too many new tricks here, but most significantly, the standard of writing hasn't dipped a jot.

NEW / Released in 2007 / Reissue 2018

Tracklist:

A1 - Brianstorm   

A2 - Teddy Picker  

A3 - D Is For Dangerous

A4 - Balaclava  

A5 - Fluorescent Adolescent    

A6 - Only Ones Who Know   

B1 - Do Me A Favour    

B2 - This House Is A Circus    

B3 - If You Were There, Beware   

B4 - The Bad Thing    

B5 - Old Yellow Bricks    

B6 - 505