Arctic Monkeys – The Car, Album Review

Well, it’s finally here. New Arctic Monkeys! It’s been about five years since their last full-length album, so now we have The Car. Admittedly, the singles left me feeling a little slighted, but I’ve come around a bit!

Yes, all I could think of when “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” and “Body Paint” came out was this was going to be just another Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino album, which, don’t hate me, I don’t care for. I’m all for bands growing and playing what makes them happy, it’s just that record never ended up interesting me. I was nervous it was going to be the same for The Car, but I was wrong. There are definitely still elements from their last album present here, but if I really had to compare it to anything, it would be The Last Shadow Puppets. It’s a little more mellow in nature, but the strings really take me there to that influence.

Really, after two listens to the album in full, there is a lot that is different. It’s still a slower tempo, with minimal drums, but a lot of tracks either came out sounding really funky or very cinematic. If you took away the vocals on some of those tracks, they sound like they could land on a Red Hot Chili Peppers album! That was definitely unexpected, but I really liked it on “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am!” The really obviously cinematically inspired songs off the album had to be “Sculptures of Anything Goes” and “Mr. Schwartz.” The latter made a bunch of behind the scenes movie-related references, so it was more obvious, but the former could be played during the credits of a lot of independent films, or during a very tense scene. You’re welcome, Hollywood.

After giving the whole album a fair shake, I have to take back my criticisms and declare “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” as my favorite track off the record. That, and “Hello You” really reminded me of The Last Shadow Puppets, so how could I not love them both. Even though I prefer this record over their last one, this is still not a home run for me by any means. The title track is by far my least favorite, and unfortunately, “Big Ideas,” just sounds like the second half of “The Car.” Something about them almost sounded a bit forced to me. However, I say that knowing I’m no musical genius like the members of Arctic Monkeys, but that’s just my take.

Overall though, I’m so happy these guys are back with new music. I can only hope a secondary North American tour happens where they actually make stops in the Midwest…until then, I live with the memory of their Primavera Sound performance from last month.