As the legend goes, with a frenzied fanbase spreading like an Australian bush fire across the Net, Arctic Monkeys were able to shoot straight to Number One with their debut single ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’, and sell out gigs to massive crowds singing along to every song. Now with many of the original mp3 demo tracks re-recorded and a few new ones thrown in for good measure, 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' is the album that has already spoken to the kids and will continue to do so throughout 2006.

Perfectly soundtracking the mixed bag of everything that it is about to live in the 21st century, 'Whatever People Say I Am…' is a melting pot of jerky and angular guitar riffs and frenetic beats, ala Franz Ferdinand, but it manages to remain fresh and innovative with gnarled poetics and a brand of insightful lyrical humour that rivals last year's bright hopes, the Kaiser Chiefs.

Tackling subjects as simple and universal as eyeing up fit girls ('Still Take You Home'), small-town related boredom and associated acts of idle thuggery ('Riot Van'), to scenester-baiting ('Fake Tales Of San Francisco'), 'Whatever People Say I Am…' is an album of many voices, the perfect album to stick on and sing out loud and mean every word because it's all happened to everyone of us, times many.

Reviewed by HMV

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