June 2012: Oh yeah look at that
- This month was sort of a celebration, yeah? Suck It And See turned a year old. Time flew by too fast,
we Matt Helders didn’t even notice it. Stories were shared, and Focus Creeps even joined the party by posting this never-before-seen photo of Matt.
- Studio versions of You Know I’m No Good (Amy Winehouse cover) and Love Machine (Girls Aloud cover) surfaced… after all these years.
- An interview surfaced from one of their SouthAm tour stops. In it, Jamie Cook mistakes Peru with Chile, plays the PlayStation with Nick.
- Alex Turner appeared on BBC Evidently… John Cooper Clarke, looked back at his teenage self who wasn’t too keen on being cool and interested.
- That magical gig in Don Valley also celebrated its anniversary this month and of course we reminisced by watching their performance of A Certain Romance, and looking back at that setlist. There was a story and a bootleg download that was shared.
- Richard Hawley sounds off on why he thinks Alex Turner is an icon (spoiler: it’s because ‘he hasn’t become an arsehole’)
- Alex Kapranos and Albert Hammond Jr. are Alex/Miles shippers.
- Don’t dare cross O’Malley or he’ll probably shoot you + Jamie finally got over his fear of rollercoasters + Matt got a ‘massive’ tattoo + Alex heads home to Sheffield, buys a doormat (ooh, all these thrilling information!)
- Fan tattoos inspired by SIAS — jigsaw women indeed + AM gets represented at Wimbledon + Faris Badwan being funny/mean… you decide
- One last time with feeling: Arctic Monkeys heat up the Orion Festival. Lars Ulrich, being AM’s number 1 fanboy, calls them ‘the coolest of the cool’ (but admits to subscribing to NME, oof)
- And to top a stellar year, the boys are going to the Olympics… at least one of their hits are. ‘Dancefloor’ is included in the London 2012 Olympic soundtrack and I am too damn proud.
BONUS! Download High Green Sheffield Australia, a collection of 21 of the best bootlegs of this era + AMUS has joined forces with the Helders fam for yet another fun contest: Dumbass Cyclists + ArcticMonkeysWords wants us all to be sticker happy
Also, listen to these: If You Were There, Beware instrumental (if you still haven’t) + San Cisco covers 505 + ACR cover by two lovely boys (this is for the laaaadies)
May 2012: Time’s got it in for [us], honey
- It’s here. The month when it all began and when it all ends… sort of. It was this month last year when the boys began the SIAS tour—kicking things off at Stockholm, playing The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala, Brick By Brick & That’s Where You’re Wrong for the first time, marking the beginning of a year-long summer for all of us.
- Fast forward to May 2012 and it’s a lot quieter, almost anticlimactic. The boys resumed AND FINISHED the second leg of their tour with The Black Keys after a two-weekend stint at Coachella, signaling the end of touring for them (except for that one last festival stint at Orion with Metallica on 23 June but… that hardly counts now, really.)
- Have a look back at the AM/BK good times—gig coverages, photos and stories from fans + a backstage photo of Dan & Alex, Dan wearing an AM shirt, and Alex wearing a Black Keys shirt.
- Photographer Courtney Chavanell released a photo of the boys in between tour buses as a sneak peek to the upcoming issue of ArtRocker where the Monkeys was featured—the most memorable quote, or at least the most memorable here on Tumblr, was when Alex made a One Direction joke.
- They were also featured on NME where they talked about their favorite records + a shoot of them holding, well, records. Alex also talked about him and Matt pretending to be Oasis when they were younger + a conversation with Pitchfork about bands like Roots Manuva & The Kinks.
- We celebrated 5/05. So did the band… by bringing backThat’s Where You’re Wrong to the setlist and… not playing 505. Weirdly enough.
- In more 505 news, AMUS’ March Madness came to a close and the winner is… 505. Seriously. It trumped ACR. Close call though but… I am still in a state of disbelief.
- Alex did an acoustic session with SONIC 102.9 performing Love Is A Laserquest. A year in and we still turn into a puddle of goo because of this song.
- Speaking of acoustics, AMUS released Straighten The Rudder—a compilation of the band’s best acoustic tracks. I’m telling you, your life will be better if you download it.
- More good stuff: Alex channeling his inner Casablanca! Also this (I don’t have proper words for it)! Matt & Alex staring into your souls! Alex and his new bike! Matt’s new trackie! The Helders/Sheffield Wednesday fanboys on vacation! Focus Creeps + Helders + a lap dance! Ah!
- 18 May 2012: we officially said goodbye to the Suck It And See era. What a year that was. And as it closes, a new one definitely begins. Thus, I have started a tag to track Album V. In the words of their most stylish friend Miles Kane, I’m countiiiiiing… down. the. days.
BONUS! Focus Creeps is FINALLY on Tumblr. Follow the blog because a) they’re wicked talented and b) it is a treasure trove of Arctic Monkeys never before seen photos + Jumping Alex the game. Need I say more? Waste your time jumping over tomatoes and catching a shitload of pink bras, Turner style.
April 2012: Remember when the boys were all electric?
(gif by: idontwantafavour-iwantamargarita)
- Hold on to your hearts—April was the beginning of the end. We are mere weeks away from the end of SIAS and it’s starting to feel bittersweet. But cry not just yet, since we began the month with hints about the new era to come: anyone fancy Album V to sound like Evil Twin/R U Mine? Helders reckons that that’s where the band’s headed.
- After a stint in Lolla Chile, the boys carried on with their tour of the South Americas. They headed to Quilmes Rock, performing in front of thousands of eager Argentinians, but disappointing the rest of the world with a broken promise of a livestream because, what was that? They were filming something on their own? Start the speculations for a tour DVD.
- Oh then you know, there were those Arctic Monkeys dolls I’d rather not discuss.
Weird? Creepy? Funny?
- And then… Lolla Brasil happened. Not only did we have a livestream of that beautiful gig, plans to work on Album V were revealed in a post-gig interview. Color. Us. Excited.
- The boys came back to the States to stir some madness in the west coast, starting with a stint on Conan performing R U Mine, before shaking things up at The Glass House.
- Then… we had Coachella. Two weekends of it. And a livestream. And an acoustic performance pre-show. And the Thunder Thief slaying the drums. And yet another antic courtesy of Turner— behold, Jumping Alex.
- And what good way to end a desert high and the month of April but with Record Store Day. Everyone scrambled for that beautiful purple vinyl. And a new tune (the last of this era, sniff) surfaced— Electricity. [HQ studio version + lyrics + Space Monkey art]
March 2012: Of Big Gulps, Milk Duds, and magic tricks
(gif by piledriverwaltzed)
- March was… interesting. It began with these
funny/ridiculous/what in the flying fuck photos of Alex and Matt trying to look cool, posing next to a 2012 Cadillac, Al with his Vans on…
- Then, a clear photo of Alex’s tattoo of the Yorkshire Rose finally surfaced. “Sheffield” is emblazoned at the bottom of the flower. The hometown lad that he is. Cue the awws cause we’re massive saps.
- Soon after, the tour with The Black Keys kicked off debuting a) the agile beast’s new drum skin, b) a newly tweaked setlist made for the BK crowd (sans When The Sun Goes Down & 505), and c) the extremely infectious track R U Mine? live. For the first time. And it sounds even better.
- The boys finally played at “Madison Square G”. Not once, but twice. And Rolling Stone covered it pretty well, article and great pictures to boot.
- Also, how can we forget Alex Turner’s ridiculous quips this leg of the tour? Big Gulps. Popcorn and Milk Duds. The Black Cleves. Matthew J Helders The Third, the chap on your girlfriend’s mind. Oh, Mr Turner… you don’t want to know how many times I had to use the Black Treacle facepalm gif on you.
- And Alex, again, had more tricks up his sleeve! This time, a magic trick. While singing that line in Crying Lightning. Looks like magician Steve Faulkner’s backstage visit rubbed off on him.
- Some other things that I think I need to note: Alex apparently returns the bras girls throw him at shows, and we finally found out where the boys had their Death Ramps ring made. And I want one. The ring, not the bras.
- Remember when the boys were all electric? Well, the boys will remind us on April 21 it seems. R U Mine’s RSD release. On purple vinyl. With the b-side Electricity. The last tune of this era. Ah, bittersweet.
- Matt talks to Examiner about their plans for the coming months, and what the next album will probably sound like (spoiler: more like Evil Twin & R U Mine?) Ooh.
- Aaand… while on a break from The Black Keys tour, the boys made their way slowly south hitting Mexico first, releasing a live video of R U Mine? filmed by Focus Creeps, before ending the month with a performance in Lollapalooza Chile, much to the delight of the SouthAm fans. Up next, Argentina & Brasil. Then Coachella. Hold on to your hearts. April will be a blast.
BONUS! What’s March without some madness? Monkeys style, of course. AMUS wants us to go crazy. We’re on round 2 of the voting. Join the fun.
More of Arctic Monkeys opening for The Black Keys at MSG, 12 March 2012. [photo: hportnof]
Also, here’s a list of things you might’ve missed if you have a life and are not stuck in front of a computer all day:
February 2012: Get some fire up in this bitch
(edit by janeisinsane)
- February kickstarted with a week-long French tour where the boys showed just how much they love the French. Play Little Illusion Machine live for them? Check. Bring Miles Kane along? Check. And that was just the beginning.
- Matt Helders updated his drum skin with a Drake-related acronym, HYFR (Hell Yeah Fucking Right), which was already fine, but Jill Helders a.k.a. the coolest mother of them all, knew how to steal the show. All I know is HYFR now stands for Helders You Fucking Rock. If you disagree with that, something’s wrong with you.
- Oh yeah, we’re still in France so let’s talk about that gig. The band’s 100th gig for the SIAS era. Bonjour, Olympia. That webcast was pure gold. Some of us who weren’t lucky enough to be in Paris just had a drinking game and got wasted. But no matter, we were treated with an electric performance by Miles Fucking Kane, a Last Shadow Puppets reunion that everyone went nuts for, and the first and only live performance of You and I. With Richard Hawley. Bastards. Here’s the first 22 minutes of that memorable gig if you want to relive it.
- Things got slow for a while there, but then, in true Monkeys fashion as of late, we got a massive surprise, in the middle of Oscar night at that—a song too good to have such a stupidly spelled title. R U Mine? just rolled in our lives like a 2012 Cadillac CTS-V. Rude, really.
- But what can I do? It’s badass. The song. That lyric—“I go crazy cause here isn’t where I want to be and satisfaction feels like a distant memory”. Add to that the video where Alex hogs the camera. Arielle. The unending “is Jamie the blonde girl in the video?” questions—no, he is not. Nick O’Malley’s good timing. And of course, Alex’s new flower tattoo.
- That wasn’t enough for a day, by the way, cause a few hours after, Triple J played the hour-long Falls Festival set from New Years’ Eve. And it was good. Matthew Helders is not just known as the Agile Beast, kids. He’s also the Rhythm Panther, as per Alex Turner. Here’s a download if you missed out.
- What else, what else… oh yeah, the month ended with the boys winning an NME award for Best Live Band but losing the category for Best Fan Community. WTF.
And so we march on to, err, March which means… AM/Black Keys tour which also means… R U Mine. Live. Bring it.
January 2012: How to kickstart the new year (and spoil your fans) Monkeys style
- Begin by fucking up the New Year’s Eve countdown at Falls Festival then,
- Take Australia by storm—play stellar shows with Little Illusion Machine and Evil Twin on the setlist, be completely ridiculous on stage, take shirts off with Miles Kane, et cetera.
- Operation mindfuck: release the video for Black Treacle. Get a ‘what-the-fuck-did-I-just-watch’ reaction among the majority of the community. Then, make them realize days later that it’s actually based on a bible story. Have AMUS’ HBIC carefully examine it. Blow everyone’s brains out.
- Decide to play Coachella in April; excite/stress those in the US, frustrate the rest of the world.
- Be strange. Cover a Patsy Cline song on Triple J’s Like A Version + make everyone remember the glory that is the UK tour and have the entire Birmingham gig streamed on Q Radio.
- Return to your roots and collaborate with Richard Hawley on You and I, a b-side bound to confuse Lady Gaga fans. Rev engines, smoke cigarettes and have wicked guitar solos, you know, stuff of rock ‘n’ roll.
- Release a video for said b-side. Give Nick and Jamie some screen time, make it look like a grown-up version of Teddy Picker, drive around in fancy cars and motorbikes, have Richard Hawley in it. Sheffield is wonderful.
- That’s not enough, of course. So perform at Radio 1’s Live Lounge.
Hide Alex in some closet and pretend he’s lost (fans will enjoy that story), do a Katy B cover then return to Jonathan Ross and let Alex have some sofa fun time with Kermit and Miss Piggy… cause the girls will love that.
- Receive 7 nominations at the NME Awards, including best album art proving either minimalist is the new maximalist or NME smokes the good stuff and;
- Jet off to Spain and show everyone a good time both in Madrid and Barcelona before commencing the week-long French tour in Paris. Never give anyone, especially that girl who runs FYAM, a break.
November 2011: Yes, we’re doing this ‘best of’ thing again
- The boys graced the cover of NME for the umpteenth time. There were talks of tour bus pet peeves, Alex assuming that nobody cares about his hair, and the possibility of a certain Mr. Miles Kane joining the band.
- The bit on Miles sparked discussion and debate in this little blog with most of you giving their two cents as to why/why not you’d want him to be the fifth Monkey. (edit: Miles says he won’t be joining the band full time)
- The boys lost the EMA for Best Alternative to 30 Seconds To Mars. Yeah. That happened. Moving on…
- UK tour 2011 ended in a bittersweet tone in Liverpool, with us having to say goodbye to “spicy carrot & coriander soup” slash honorary Monkey, John Ashton. Here’s a look back at the good times.
- Alex & Matt gave a slang lesson to all their wank friends (a.k.a. you, me, and everyone else)
- Alex performed yet another acoustic session, this time at Glasgow’s 102.5 Clyde 1 Radio.
- It’s more than official: Alex Turner is a GQMF. He talked about his personal ‘survivors’ (The Smiths), rap music, not listening to his 19 year-old self, and his desire to do Glastonbury again (which made me yell— YES PLEASE YES) before performing an incomplete acoustic of Suck It And See.
- Tour 2012 continued to extend: an additional Melbourne show was added, poster and support (Miles Kane!) for the French regional shows were unveiled, and finally, the boys are headed to South America with festival dates in Chile, Brazil and Argentina.
- Alex Turner slipped in an interview and spilled the details of the fourth (yes, fourth you spoiled brats) single— BLACK TREACLE. Next year. Insert all those flailing/fainting gifs here.
- Aaaand, it’s official, or at least as official as NME gets: Matt Helders is cooler than Alex Turner. Bad boy haircut > greasy Elvis do, duh.
Bonus stuff: You shared your top 10 AM songs, songs that make you bawl like a baby & more stories (with one odd tale about Library Pictures & peeing) + AMUS started yet another hashtag trend (#ThingsThatMakeAlexTurnerCry) + FNAM presents: Let’s Point Back 2011 (which needs to happen, do you hear me Australia?)
Bonus bonus stuff! FYAM reached 10K followers & AMUS became the fan forum of all fan forums. If this blog has any influence on any of you, join the forum. Meet wank friends and get to download all of these. Oooh.
October 2011: All the good stuff
A round-up of things
- Alex Turner performed live acoustics of Love Is A Laserquest & Suck It And See on Edge radio. Here’s the rip in case you missed it.
- Jamie Cook and the ultimate love test. Some serious words of wisdom, kids.
- Space Monkey finished the 12 days, 12 covers project, AMUS is making shirts out of it. All is right in the world.
- And the tour continues with stops in Montreal, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and a stint in NYC that must’ve been pretty epic since it caused one Stroke to gush and fanboy. We love you (and your band) too, Albert.
- The Chair b-sides leaked. Spoil yourself with Shimmer Trap.
- Another acoustic session with Alex, this time at WXRP in New York. Here’s a three-songs-in-one rip.
- Hot of the press: Rolling Stone France, Yahoo, Nylon and The Observer.
- Suck It And See pre-orders finally arrived on the doorsteps of some lucky fans! Check out the booklet, disc design and inside art.
- Alex explains the simplicity of the cover art.
- The boys go back to Letterman.
- A fantastic ‘making of’ video was released! Here’s a tag for all the gifs and photos cos you know that you & I capped the shit out of that.
- Suck It And See promo photographs are up on the newly tweaked website.
![More of Arctic Monkeys opening for The Black Keys at MSG, 12 March 2012. [photo: hportnof]
Also, here’s a list of things you might’ve missed if you have a life and are not stuck in front of a computer all day:
R U Mine’s bside is Electricity and will be released on 7” purple vinyl on RSD, 21 April 2012 — I do not have an advance copy of that track, fyi anons
The California 2011 shirt is now available at the official store, so get your hands on it ASAP
The L’Olympia gig is up on YouTube again. Yes, the full show. Rip that before it disappears
Let’s beat Coldplay, shall we? Need your votes for MTV’s Musical March Madness
I edited the Detroit post to accommodate the link to a bootleg download of the entire gig c/o AMUS of course and;
I’m still trying to cover the Black Keys/Arctic Monkeys tour. Trying is the operative word.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0sxxmj9jl1qzby13o1_500.jpg)
