who the fuck are arctic monkeys?

Alex Turner is 25.

This simple fact bears repeating, since it seems like he and his band the Arctic Monkeys are so established as part of our musical landscape. It also reflects the fast-edit culture we now exist in: having arrived at their fourth album, Turner and the Monkeys appear far older— almost veteran-like in their staying power.

Suck It And See, their grammatically incorrect fourth LP, offers a deeper truth: how far and wide a band can travel given the time, space and, crucially, the will to do so. For, having taken an artistic leap on its predecessor, Humbug, and divided their audience, here they reap the rewards of their endeavour. Suck It And See is a properly great record— one that should establish the Monkeys at rock’s top table and their creative linchpin as a peerless songwriter.

Sylvia Patterson’s cover feature sheds an illuminating light on Turner. It isn’t one that reveals a penchant for headline-grabbing quotes or outrageous behaviour, but rather of a man driven entirely by his music. […]

- Paul Rees’ editor’s note on the latest issue of Q magazine.

Arctic Monkeys on Q Magazine (June 2011). It comes out 27th April. [click here for scans.]

Q Magazine, June 2011 (subscribers-only cover).

Arctic Monkeys, on Q magazine (June 2011).

Arctic Monkeys, on Q magazine (June 2011).

What must you be like when you're completely stoned out of your head?

Alex Turner: Stoned? What d'you mean, cos I seem like that anyway? Yeah. A lot of people... tell me I'm a bit... dreamy. But I like the idea of that. Of being somewhere else.

Since he’s been writing songs, it seems like he’s always thinking about that. So even when he’s talking to you now, he’s thinking about the next thing that rhymes with that word. Even when he’s driving. We joke he’s a bad driver, his focus is never 100 per cent on what he’s doing. Which is good for us cos that means he’s got another 12 songs up his sleeve. I think music must be the easiest way for him to be concise and get everything out. Otherwise his head would explode.

“

—	Matt Helders on Alex Turner, from the recent Q interview.

Why do indie bands wear such tight jeans?

Alex Turner: Um, I suppose they do. They haven't always. When we first were playing I was definitely in flares. You need to be quite tall to get the full effect, though. So that's why THIS indie band wears such tight jeans, cos we've not got the legs for flares.

Arctic Monkeys on Q.

What Alex Turner’s pinky ring is about

From the recent Q interview:

The elaborate pinky ring he now constantly wears, however, a silver, gold and ruby metal-goth corker featuring the words DEATH RAMPS is a permanent reminder of he and his best friends’ past. The Death Ramps is not only a Monkeys pseudonym and b-side to Teddy Picker, but a place they used to ride their bikes in Sheffield as kids.

“Up in the woods near where we lived,” he nods. “Just little hills. But when you’re eight years old they’re death ramps.”

I’m just a pretty shit-hot housewife, most of the time. I cook stews, fish combinations, curries, chillies. I made a beef pho noodle soup the other day, Vietnamese, I surprised meself, had some mates round for that.

“

—	Nick O’Malley on his seemingly domesticated life in Sheffield, from the recent Q interview.

Arctic Monkeys on Q.

Author Tom Wolfe inspired the titles of the songs in the record

Just so you know, Tom Wolfe wrote the books Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby. Alex Turner thinks the titles are “just awesome”. Hence coming up with other possible titles such as Thunder Suckle Fuzz Canyon and The Blondo-O-Sonic Shimmer Trap.

I said to him [Jamie Cook]: Come on, mate, you’ve got to get that beard shaved off. Get the girls back into us. Shift some posters.

“

—	Alex Turner on Q magazine (via bite-the-lightning)

And you can’t just do, y’know, another Mardy Bum or whatever. Because how could you, really?

“

—	Alex Turner, on the shift that is Humbug, from the recent Q interview.