(Credits: Far Out / Zackery Michael / Domino Records)
Fri 8 August 2025 12:00, UK
2002, where it all began…
For most people, the beginnings of the movement that was the Arctic Monkeys occurred around 2006 after the release of Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not. But for the lucky few who remember, the wheels were already in motion in the previous years, when free demos they’d give out to people at gigs sparked the beginnings of a social media frenzy they’d never come back from.
But for Arctic Monkeys, those initial sparks occurred even earlier. In fact, where it all truly began was in October 2002, when Alex Turner, Matt Helders, and Nick O’Malley went to Manchester to see Australian rockers the Vines. It wasn’t something they did all that often – go to gigs – but this one in particular set off a domino effect where that’s all they wanted to do, lines blurring between wanting to enjoy the energy in the audience and wanting to be on stage themselves.
But in the minds of a young Turner, Helders, and O’Malley, there was a bigger storm on the horizon that they had no idea they’d be the ones to lead, the primer that loosened up the charred cracks between then and now; the leaders of a new indie-rock resurgence that bridged the gap between the Strokes and the new age. “We still talk about [the Vines gig] now, getting the train in the morning, going right up to the front. And all the opening acts — this band called the Bandits and this band called Nada Surf,” Turner recalled to EW.
He continued, “That was really the start. We were going to shows whenever we could after that. We’d just started playing together that summer, in me parents’ garage. We’d be trying to play ‘Get Free’ by the Vines. And the Datsuns — they had a song called ‘Harmonic Generator,’ and we used to do a cover of that. I’m sad that I missed [seeing] the Strokes in Sheffield for Is This It, though. I was a little bit late to the party there.”
In the haze of the excitement of Vines, the Bandits and Nada Surf, there wasn’t just an itch to imitate, but to recreate some of the magic by other key players like the Strokes and Oasis. Especially after Turner became switched on to records like Be Here Now, he began to realise how these moments were also shaping their own attitude and approach, their own distinctive sound, in the process of embracing the sound of others.
Thus, Turner’s famed line, “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes,” likely isn’t just a quip about how much he admired one of the best new indie wave groups of all time, but a layered reflection on everything they were back then, the simplicity of wanting to be one of the groups they looked up to while unknowingly crafting something that would become unmistakably theirs; accidental excellence in the rush to become a part of something they never knew they’d become leaders of.
And then, from there, their world cracked wide open. Eventually, it wasn’t just about being an indie band reminiscent of those familiar 1990s and early-2000s tropes; the game became far more eclectic, venturing into jazz arenas and Leonard Cohen-esque poetic storytelling, as well as all the quintessential bass notes reminiscent of Serge Gainsberg, along with concepts as rich and delicate and thought-provoking as 1970s cinematic classics.
And supposedly, all of this is why – going back to those seminal moments, at gigs with eyes wide like wonder as the Arctic Monkeys embraced a new kind of excitement – all of these references feel especially poignant now. Even if they’ve become buried in the broader kaleidoscopic world the band crafted for themselves, and even if the words to the songs themselves seem more complicated than they actually are. At the crux of it, that discovery has always been a natural part of what makes them so great, beyond commercial accessibility.
As Turner told The Guardian: “I like the idea that I’m getting better at the…I sort of want to say distillation. I think I’m better at picking the moment to expose the idea behind the song. But you have to be comfortable with the idea that things don’t have to be a pop song.”
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