The Monkeys burst forth on to the scene back in 2006 with I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and their debut LP Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I Am Not. Since then, though, they’ve gone from talented, cheeky young upstarts to bona fide rock stars – not bad for a bunch of boys from Sheffield.
Their debut was an observant slice of youth in the Noughties indie, capturing the trials and tribulations of their hometown lives. It also, though, was shot through with musicianship and song writing that marked them as different to thei rcontemporaries, and in Alex Turner, they had a lyricist who transcended the usual pitfalls of both indie and first album storytelling.
It was an instant classic and sold by the bucketloads to become the fastest-selling debut album in British music history, hitting the top spot in the UK and Oz charts. Since this pivotal moment for British guitar music, the boys have moved on. Team ups with the likes of P-Diddy have followed suit (drummer James Helders drummed on his Dirty Money project), they adopted a rockabilly vibe complete with leather jackets and quiffs that were a far cry from the street wear composition of their earlier days (Helders even has his own clothing line now, too), and have been hanging out with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, who’s been involved with both their Humbug (2008) and AM (2012) albums. This year they played a barnstorming – or should that be Brian-storming? – headline gig at Glastonbury and will be bringing that big arena vibe to London.
£40+, October 25th & 26th, doors open at 6pm
Earls Court, SW5 9TA
Tube | Earls Court
eco.co.uk
