Suck It and See - Arctic Monkeys
Suck It and See Image
  • Summary: Arctic Monkeys partners with producer James Ford for a third time for a fourth album of indie pop songs.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 32
  2. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Jun 6, 2011
    90
    What is clear is that the Arctic Monkeys of 2011 have produced, probably by a significant margin, the best British Rock 'n' Roll album you will hear this year, and on top of that there's the comforting sense that Suck It And See will only age well.
  2. In an age where even Britpop corpse-botherers Brother trumpet their desire to collaborate with Odd Future, the Monkeys have made a record heavily indebted to late-'80s indie and a small group of white, male '70s singer-songwriters: Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Leonard Cohen.
  3. Just when the world is no longer particularly bothered about a new Arctic Monkeys record, they've finally released one worth being bothered about – at least in parts.

See all 32 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 31
  2. Negative: 1 out of 31
  1. To record Humbug, Arctic Monkeys headed to the California desert with a slew of incomplete song ideas and the mood to experiment a bit. This time around, the band prepared and tried to perfect their songs at home before traveling to Los Angeles to record. The result is a more immediate album, but also one that may take a few listens to fully appreciate. The first two songs released off of the album (Brick By Brick and Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair) were quite a misdirection for fans since, besides those two and the jagged Library Pictures, the rest of Suck It And See contains very summer-friendly melodies and choruses. Some of the band's most successful previous singles were more joyful than rocky, and this time around Alex Turner and company seemed to make it a point to perfect that type of sound. Black Treacle, Reckless Serenade, title track Suck It And See, and closer That's Where You're Wrong will likely hook you quicker than anything they've recorded since Fluorescent Adolescent. The aforementioned "heavier" songs (though they still roll out at a pace much slower than the band's older material) work well on the album and provide necessary tempo changes. Track-for-track, this is likely the Arctic Monkeys' best album to date, providing twelve songs that range from fun to spectacular, and absolutely no filler. The only complaint I have is the fact that I like the Submarine OST recording of Piledriver Waltz a bit more than this album version, but it's still very good in its own right. While listening to Suck It And See, you'll likely realize that this is a band that is fine-tuning its skill set and using all of the tricks they've learned so far to create some wonderful music. Can't wait to see where they go next. Expand
    • 6 of 6 users said yes
  2. Although the majority here will disagree with me, I think the album relies on a sound that doesn't really expand. Some songs I would not be able to tell apart due to the same single plucked notes at the start followed by verse/chorus/ verse etc songwriting. Some cracking tunes such as Piledriver waltz and She's Thunderstorms, cant however stop me from being just merely impressed. Expand
    • 0 of 5 users said yes
  3. From a band with so much talent they produce something of low quality. They appear to be milking their name knowing people will pick the album up blindly. I'm just saying listen to the (bad) music first before you make your mind up on buying it. Expand
    • 0 of 10 users said yes

See all 31 User Reviews

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