New Arctic Monkeys – “Brick By Brick”

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It seems the Arctic Monkeys are continuing to embark down their road of 60s rock n rolldom, perpetuated heavily on their last album Humbug, where they kind of ditched their Strokes-like swagger and tried out some darker, more psychedelic vibes. Their latest comes in the form of “Brick By Brick,” which seems like a natural trajectory from Humbug, with it’s darker ambiance and crunchy bass lines, Turner’s voice at first unrecognizable.

The song reeks of 60s nostalgia, chock full of screeching electric guitar solos, changes in tempo and pop rock hooks. All we can tell about it is from the accompanying video: that it was recorded last month, produced by James Ford (which might affirm the notion that he’s producing their new record) and probably sounds great on vinyl while smoking cigarettes, and then heading towards the beach. We had heard that the Monkeys were working on a fourth album, but when it’s coming out is yet to be disclosed. You got to hand it to Turner for his keen sense of musicality; gosh, how these lads are maturing.

by Daniel Koren on March 6, 2011 ‡ 62 reactions