In a somewhat bold move, the Arctic Monkeys upcoming sixth album will invite comparisons to The Strokes from the very first line, where Alex Turner name drops the band.
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, out May 11, begins with the very Alex Turner lyric:
I just wanted to be one of the Strokes, now look at the mess you made me make
Hitchhiking with a monogrammed suitcase, miles away from any half-useful imaginary highway.
In terms of its Arctic Monkey-ness, it’s no ‘Don’t Sit Down Because I Moved Your Chair’, but that hitchhiking imagery lets us know we’re still working within the same wistful wheelhouse of regret.
Talking to British music mag Mojo, Turner explained the reference, in case you couldn’t follow. “That’s me writing about writing,” he said. “Did the Strokes line feel too close to home? Yeah, absolutely. But you can’t let that stop you.”
Turner has never been shy about how The Strokes influenced him to start a band – in 2011, he even wrote a piece for NME called “Why I Love The Strokes’ ‘Is This It’“.
The band also have a pretty sound cover of ‘Take It Or Leave It’, which you can listen to below while we’re waiting to hear anything from the new album.
While we’re talking The Strokes covers, though, my heart’s beholden to Azealia Banks‘ sea-punk cover of ‘Barely Legal’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y14AP_PvjGE&feature=youtu.be
Source: Pitchfork
Image: Matt Kent/WireImage
