Arctic Oasis Monkeys

Recently, Noel Gallagher released an album that would mark his first solo work since the disbanding of Oasis, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Much to the chagrin to my friends, Oasis holds something of a special place in my heart. Wonderwall made me first pick up the guitar and actively want to learn music (a path that would eventually end in Zeppelin). So what do I think after a month of listening to the much praised High Flying Birds? I think that the Arctic Monkeys are pretty damn good.

Allow me to explain. Listening to High Flying Birds made me nostalgic for britrock (or 'britpop' to its deriders). The Arctic Monkeys had tickled my fancy a little when I listened to Whatever People Say I am, I'm not and Favourite Worst Nightmare back in high school. I figured that after however many years of not following them, I'd give their two recent albums, Humbug and Suck It and See, a try.

The result of the last month's worth of listening to these three albums on repeat is that I have struck upon exactly why Oasis whimpered out after What's the Story Morning Glory (a behemoth of a second album).

In High Flying Birds, Noel continues upon the path that Oasis would have trod if they had simply agreed to Noel's songwriting leadership. You can hear that Noel is trying to make himself mature musically by breaking out of the rock and guitar based framework that Oasis was steeped in. Gone are the heavy guitar riffs, the wall-of-sound power chords and simple-ass basslines. Tracks like The Death of You and Me and Soldier Boy and Jesus Freaks now incorporate keyboards, big bands, string ensembles, backup singers and almost dance-like beats.

To be fair on Noel, it's not a bad effort. The songs come out as being catchy, well produced and well executed. Reviews to his album have been quite welcoming in light of the burning pile of fail that Beady Eye (Liam Gallagher's little side project) turned out to be. It is solid, well executed and all those other adjectives that, sadly, fall short of what really good music should be - captivating, impressive, infectious, intense, and make you put songs on repeat. This is where the Arctic Monkeys come in.

The Arctic Monkeys had the same 'musical maturity' mantra that Oasis and Noel Gallagher were trying to aim for. The difference with the Monkeys, though, is that they didn't feel as they needed bells and whistles in the form of strings and trumpets to make their music interesting. Thanks in no small part to the influence of Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age fame) Humbug and Suck it and See achieve musical maturity with just guitars and drums.

A case study: All My Own Stunts, Track 7 off Suck it and See. Here is a track where everything comes together and does what all rock music should be doing. The guitars aren't just playing three power chords and there is more than just one riff through the whole song. The drums don't just keep the beat, they speak with the guitars and define the pace of the song. The song isn't just chorus-verse-chorus-verse, it changes mood, moves into sections and takes you on a ride. And the bassist isn't just the kid drooling in the corner who couldn't play guitar.

This holds true for almost every track off Humbug and Suck it and See. And they're not all in the same style of 'desert rock' that the Arctic Money's direction has been labelled as. Reckless Serenade manages to combine pub and surf rock into quite a nice and lackadaisical piece. And they go into high school prom territory with Piledriver Waltz.

So, what's the point? The point is that Noel Gallagher has done okay, trying to become better at music the way he has - but only okay and not in a way that injects any great deal of hope into the genre. Whether this is because the medium of his improvement is slightly unfocussed or because he himself is limited as a musician, I'm not entirely sure. The Arctic Monkeys, on the other hand, have been quite ambitiously unambitious and managed to prove themselves a great deal more than Noel has, while sticking to the same instruments. It's proof that good musicality can be achieved by being more creative with ordinary tools, and that you don't need the bells and whistles, or rather, record scratches and sampled synth that dominates a metric ton of other popular music.

I don't listen to music because of cool sounds, catchy rhythms or even technically complex guitar solos. I listen to music because it takes me on a ride.

Be simple, be good.

Arctic Monkeys - garage band