Part of the reason why this list is moving forward so slowly is because I haven’t finalized it. Essentially I’m locking in certain choices as I go, swaying my own decisions according to whatever criteria I'm using at the time. As a result of my strangely organic method, my ranking is gradually taking on extra dimension, a second vector that curves back and forth while the numbers descend.
Arctic Monkeys and Maxïmo Park are both sophomores who got up and running in 2005. Both have released deeper, more complicated follow-ups to stellar debuts, yet both are just conventional enough that I really couldn’t consider either album for my top 10 this year. Still, I couldn’t stop listening to them, and both bands have quickly become favorites.
Arctic Monkeys briefly held the record for the fast-selling debut album in UK history, all the more impressive when considering they had considerable stateside success as well. Initially seen as everyman kids saved by guitars from the dole queue, they’ve unleashed one massive single after the next and quickly become a national institution, something akin to the 2000s version of Oasis. This year's Favourite Worst Nightmare builds upon their success while significantly widening their sound to include more minimal and rhythmic arrangements.
Maxïmo Park were late entries in the post-punk revivalist game, unveiled upon the public after the high profile influx of peers and competitors such as Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, the Futureheads, and Bloc Party. By that time, the public was tired, but critics gave the band well-deserved credit anyway. More unapologetically middle-class and pop-oriented than the Arctic Monkeys, their popularity has remained modest. They are the sort of indie college band with a huge student following that never suffers from overexposure or media hype. Their album Our Earthly Pleasures tries to tone down the hyper urgency on which they originally made their name, but it ends up a bit like caging a tiger.
Both bands are fronted by literate writers and play music that feels simultaneous retro and fresh—sculpted sounds dominated by razor sharp angular guitars. And yet the end result is entirely different. Alex Turner of the Monkeys has already ascended to deity status in the book of British songwriters, a working-class social commentator on par with Paul Weller and Damon Albarn in front of a brash and beloved band. If Arctic Monkeys are descendents from Oasis, derivative but fully-formed right out of the gate, then Maxïmo Park are early Radiohead—undeveloped but undeniable, with a white-hot future. Paul Smith is a somewhat demure guy who sings of Russian literature, unpacking books from boxes, and girls who play guitars (after all, anyone can play guitar), yet he’s a frantic, aggressive monster on stage, exhibiting passion and near-crazed intensity that make him impossible not to watch. Simply put, Maxïmo Park was possibly the best live act I saw last year, and anyone who attended a different show with me knows there was some extremely tough competition in the category.
So which album do I pick for #13? Whichever one I happen to be listening to at the moment. Which would you choose? For your deliberation, I give you the classic Clown-vs-Non-Clown video for the unstoppable “Fluorescent Adolescent” by Arctic Monkeys, up against a bootleg video of Maxïmo Park performing my favorite song from Our Earthly Pleasures, “The Unshockable.”
2 comments:
No lie, man--that Maximo Park show was effing unbelievable. Esp. given the fact that I'd just slogged through all three days of the Pitchfork Music Festival immediately prior to it, and yet it remains fresh, vital, and distinct in my memory. Thanks again for inviting me to go with you!
Oh, and that Arctic Monkeys disk really impressed me this year too, even though I haven't given it as much attention as I should.
even this far up in the list, i'm wondering to myself, "what the hell did i listen to in 2007?" oh yeah, crowded house.
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