Released: 2011

Genres: Indie Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Jangle Pop

The Musiquarium’s Suck It and See Review Score: 9 out of 10

Swapping out the dark and sludgy palette of its predecessor Humbug, in exchange for a warmer and more cozy sound, Suck It and See finds Arctic Monkeys at its most serene musically and lovesick lyrically.

She’s Thunderstorms introduces this more romantic version of the band with jangly guitars, soaked in reverb. For those who aren’t from the U.K., Black Treacle is named after the molasses-like syrup seen on the single artwork. Brick By Brick finds drummer Matt Helders on vocals, with lyrics that might be too cheeky for their own good. The yearning single The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala has one of my favourite Alex Turner lines (“makes me wanna blow the candles out just to see if you glow in the dark”).

There is a three-song run in the middle of the tracklist, which injects a shot of adrenaline into the album, led by Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair; this song could have easily worked on Humbug (just as Cornerstone could have fit into Suck It and See), and is nicely complimented by the equally-heavy Library Pictures and All My Own Stunts, the latter of which features backing vocals from Humbug producer and Queens of the Stone Age frontman, Josh Homme.

The last third of the album continues into balladry territory, with Reckless Serenade, Piledriver Waltz (also appearing on the Alex Turner solo EP Submarine) and Love Is a Laserquest. The title track has another one of my favourite Alex Turner lyrics (“that’s not a skirt, girl, that’s a sawn-off shotgun and I can only hope you’ve got it aimed at me”). The album ends with upbeat That’s Where You’re Wrong.

If you prefer snarky, vicious Alex from the first two albums, then you won’t find him here, but you’ll find one of the best songwriters of his generation pouring his heart out and penning some of his most iconic lines yet, even if some of his metaphors can start to become tedious.

There are plenty of rose-tinted, lovesick ballads on Suck It and See, but the band still makes room for a few heavy tracks, which allows the album to switch gears and keep the listener engaged. With saying that, a lot of the songs here do initially blur together and while I’ve come to love this album front-to-back, it is admittedly the most repetitive Arctic Monkeys record — Still, Suck It and See is another superb album in their discography.

A theory on the connection between Humbug and Suck It and See: humbugs are a type of hard candy that are popular in the U.K. “Suck it and see” is a term for giving something a try before judging it. Alex Turner is asking that fans try Humbug (which sounded nothing like their first two albums), but to Suck It and See first, before they criticize it (or in this case, before they criticize the band’s change in musical direction). Humbugs can often be striped white and black. Humbug was the dark album, Suck It and See is the light album and that even shows in their respective album covers.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Arctic Monkeys on Discogs.

Back to the 2011 Album Guide or the Arctic Monkeys Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard