Arctic Monkeysw/ The LikeKOOL HAUS2009-09-29

After a long hiatus the Arctic Monkeys were back in town as part of a small North American Tour showcasing their new release, Humbug. What, no bah? Last time these guys were on my radar they were doing their pre-Glasto/Reading/Leeds interviews of 2007 telling us we gotta see this years model, Amy Winehouse. How many fucking lifetimes ago was that?!?

The Like opened. There's no end to the amount of silly review headlines, most already used as EP titles, I Like The Like, or What's Not To Like? or Like It Or Not, They're Here to Stay...I'll stick with the first.

Industry babies they are, the most recognizable offspring being Tennessee Thomas the daughter of Elvis Costello's drummer Pete Thomas, but don't let that fool you. They are an accomplished band for some young upstarts. Refreshing as hell to hear boy/girl rock songs from the distaff perspective.
They are playing in the boys home court too. No ephemeral diva stuff here, it's straight up rock.
Highlight of the evening was watching an animated Reni Lane tearing it up on keyboards in a skin-tight chiffon dress with a pretty-in-pink bow adorning her mop-top hairdo. Bassist Laena Geronimo, with her semi-bouffant (a pouffant?), provided a heavy bass line and melded beautifully with drummer Thomas' take-no-prisoners assault on the skins. Z Berg brought a little hint of the girl-next-door look to the leading vox and guitar.

Setlist and sound samples:
?I Don't Hate You, But I Don't Love You
Square One
He's Not A Boy
In the End
?Walk of Shame/?
Band Intro / Fair Game
?I'm Not The One For You
?Don't Make A Sound
??


The chilly chimps will be full-grown soon. The new songs are slower, darker and not lacking any bass. Signature vocals and guitar riffs are still evident throughout but there's less playing to the ADD crowd. It's not like they are sitting back in rocking chairs, plenty of machine-gun riffs and some more than decent drumming.

Very heavy on the new tunes...no less than 10, if you include various bonus tracks. We await the arena tour next spring/summer, the DVD and the B-sides.

Here's the setlist and some sound samples:

Dance Little Liar (Humbug)
Brianstorm (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
Crying Lightning (Humbug)
Potion Approaching (Humbug)
Pretty Visitors (Humbug)
This House is a Circus (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
Still Take You Home (Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not)
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor (Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not)
If You Were There, Beware (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
Sketchead (Humbug, iTunes only)
Dangerous Animals (Humbug)
The View from the Afternoon (Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not)
Secret Door (Humbug)
Cornerstone (Humbug)
Do Me a Favour (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
Fluorescent Adolescent (Favourite Worst Nightmare)

Encore:
Red Right Hand (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover) (Humbug,Japan only)
My Propeller (Humbug)
505 (Favourite Worst Nightmare)