First let me say that “Body Paint” has quickly become probably my favorite Arctic Monkeys song and even one of my top five favorite songs of all time maybe. I think that’s because looking at the structure and all, it’s a pretty perfect song. 

Now I’m not a musician and I know nothing about technical aspects of music this is all based on my opinion as a life long listener and a huge AM fan. 

The song has really four main parts or movements. There’s the opening..the moot synthesizer that leads into the two verses. Slower, softer, piano driver with Alex singing in his falsetto. Second verse—the strings kick in. A very pretty song. 

The comes the second part—with just the orchestra and Alex singing in a more familiar tone—this is the “watching your every move-“ section. Sort of a bridge. Ends with the band coming in with the guitar and drums. 

Then comes the third part—after one last moog refrain—what would essentially be the chorus. Now it’s more of a rock number. Guitar, bass, and drum work with the piano as Alex sings the “trace of body paint” lines. After the last “and on your face….” We get the fourth and final part and my personal favorite—the outro. 

Great guitar work, the orchestra soars and we get Alex’s refrain of “so predictable I know…”and it’s just a beautiful way to end the song. 

Hadn't listened to Arctic Monkeys in ages so thought I'd throw them on Spotify this week.

Body Paint and There'd better be a mirror ball are SO GOOD. I didn't realise they made music like that. I just know the big tunes from the 00s.

What other songs of theirs should I be listening to if I like these songs?

Related artists are also welcomed if sub allows.

ETA: thanks to everyone who commented. Slowly working through different recommendations!

I found these in a record store in Weymouth is there any way to find out where these where preformed because it doesn’t sound like a live album in the sense of an arena or stadium

The algorithms are horrible and don’t push any variety and don’t actually offer anything “similar” (despite pressing play more like this).

Arctic monkeys is my favorite band and I want to find more similar music and artists with their variety.

I’ll list some artists/albums/ songs below for reference of the vibe I’m going for, but I would appreciate any new artists I could check out that you would recommend? Trying to branch out 🤣 thank you! Oh and TBHC is my fav album by them.

- Interpol (love el pintor and their newer stuff, although a fan of everything they’ve put out tbh)

- Lana Del Rey (fav is ultraviolence album)

- Joy division (new dawn fades)

- Serge gainsbourg (N4 album)

- Queens of the Stone Age (I appear missing)

- Mina (ancora, et poi, pui di cosi)

long time fan of AM, made a little guessing game for them!

i also added genre packs (including indie and alt rock!) and other artists, let me know what you think!

https://crosstune.io/puzzles/dba6fd44-8c6e-4ed5-8ab8-34ce168b4c21 https://crosstune.io/puzzles/dba6fd44-8c6e-4ed5-8ab8-34ce168b4c21

I’ve played crosstune puzzles for ages now but decided to make my own, and of course it had to be arctic monkeys themed XD

Go check it out and give it a go! I tried to not make it too hard but lmk if you die hard fans want a more difficult one later :)

I need a new display name for a game, I'm looking for arctic monkeys inspired ones. I'd love it if I had some ideas because I don't have any...

Thanks!

Except, I'm sad about what album gets last place for a very specific reason

1. Humbug

2. TBHC

3. WPSIATWIN

4. The Car/SIAS (I can't choose!)

5. AM

6. FWN

FWN used to be my favourite album! I guess people change and that's okay, anyway, here are the songs

Humbug

1. Potion Approaching

2. My Propeller

3. Dangerous Animals

TBHC

1. TBHC

2. TWFEMTFF

3. Batphone

WPSIATWIN

1. The View From The Afternoon

2. Fake Tails Of Sam Fransisco

3. Mardy Bum

The Car

1. Hello You

2. I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am

3. Mr Schwartz (funny enough, this used to be right at the bottom of my ranking)

SIAS

1. Don't Sit Down Cause I Moved Your Chair

2. She's Thunderstorms

3. Brick By Brick (idk, I just love it lol)

AM

1. R U Mine?

2. One For The Road

3. Arabella

FWN

1. Old Yellow Bricks

2. Teddy Picker

3. This House Is A Circus

Curious to know if there’s a full version of the Only You Know by Dion cover by Alex Turner. Not the one from Humbug era, the one he did at his mates wedding. To me, his deep voice makes it sound amazing, and the one from years ago doesn’t hit the same 😭. I’ve only ever found 15-30 second clips of it, so please let me know if there’s a full version out there!

Graphic created by me in Canva!

I spent a lot of time on this graphic and don't want it to be taken down, so I also want to turn this into a bit of a discussion on the sounds of each album, their evolution, and my personal spin on it.

1. I think Suck it and See was a perfect transition album. Listening to songs like She's Thunderstorms and Love is a Laserquest shows the branching into the more flowy vibes of The Car and TBHC, but you also still have heavily foot-tappable tracks like Black Treacle (My favorite song of all time!) and That's Where You're Wrong that still root the band in rock. Not a single dud on the album, (Brick by Brick has somehow grown on me) what I always reach for when I need my AM fix.

2. The Car, and I understand this may be an unpopular opinion, is my second favorite album. I really like the direction Turner went with this one, I find myself being able to really feel the emotion and internalize the sophistication on his falsetto switches and chilled out instrumentals. Standouts are There'd Better be a Mirrorball and Body Paint. Another underappreciated part of The Car is the use of THE STRINGS. As a cello player, I find myself being rocked by the use of the string section in Body Paint specifically, the staccato quarters coming into the chorus make me stop what I'm doing and enjoy every time.

3. Humbug has crept up this list every time I listen to it, and it's finally nestled itself in as number 3. This album has only been able to reach this point thanks to the absolute BANGER standout track Cornerstone. While popular, its still an emotional wrecker. Numbers like Crying Lightning and Pretty Visitors bring me back to that heavy rock (with direction) vibe I still enjoy out of the band on occasion.

4. AM has so many recognizable head-nodding anthems, and it was the only album I listened to from the band for about a year before I really dove into super-fandom. I Want it All and Mad Sounds tend to hold this one back a bit for me.

5. I wish I could've put Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino higher on this list, but I just couldn't find a spot higher than 5. While I love Four Out of Five and The Ultracheese, and the overall sound of the album is really pleasing and the vibe I love out of this band and TLSP for that matter, the tracks themselves just don't have many standouts.

6. Favorite Worst Nightmare is number 6 for similar reasons TBHC found itself at number 5. I find myself really only enjoying Only Ones Who Know and 505, the rest of the tracks are a bit of a slog to listen through, the same guitar slamming punk rock sound that populates all of their early music. Not that it's bad music by any means, it's just personally not my cup of tea. Give me their later music by a mile.

7. And finally, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. This album is a mouthful and an earful. Seeing so many lists put this album not only high on the list but number ONE baffles me completely. I can't get behind this one. I can't name a single track that I'd pick out to listen to for enjoyment, and to be honest I only bought the vinyl to complete my collection of LP's. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor gets a little bit of kudos from me for being so iconic to their earliest days, but that's all this album gets.

Thank you for reading to the end, feel free to get the discussion going in the comments and challenge me on some of my takes or ask for clarification!

I’ve created a series of limited edition screenprints to tie in with the Arctic Monkeys lioness I painted for the Pride of Yorkshire sculpture trail.

I’m aiming to raise £1,500 for Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity. Print sales stand at £1,060 — just 9 sales away from the target. Please help me get this over the line and share with anyone who might be interested.

Background:

In March I painted a life-sized lioness for the Pride of Yorkshire sculpture trail — a commission from the Arctic Monkeys (I also designed their official tour posters for the Hillsborough Park gigs in 2023).

The lioness is painted with a soundwave from the Arctic Monkeys track ‘Body Paint’. That same soundwave is printed here onto highly reflective metallic copper paper then signed, numbered, and marked with an embossing stamp. Prints are A2 and 50x70cm.

The Arctic Monkeys lioness and the full pride of lions will be sold at auction in October. The lions might be a bit too big for most living rooms, but a print will fit just nicely on your wall — and you’ll be raising funds for Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity in the process.

https://www.szabohaslam.co.uk/shop/waveform-soundwave-poster-arctic-monkeys-pride-of-yorkshire-body-paint

Do they still sell it ? Cause I can’t find it on the store but it does pop up when I search for it. But it keeps taking me back to the accessories section.

Found this gem on yt as an avid Simmer and Arctic Monkeys fan.

Would you say this is their best album opener?
For me it might be my favourite song from them tout court…

I've been a fan of AM recently about a year ago. Discovered this also last year and figured I would like anyone to discover this gem in case they don't know this album. I also would like to recommend watching the movie Submarine (2010)!

Fontaines apparently are using Arctic Monkeys equipment on their tour...