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(Credits: Far Out \/ Zackery Michael \/ Domino Records)<\/p>\n
Fri 8 August 2025 12:00, UK <\/p>\n
2002, where it all began\u2026<\/p>\n
For most people, the beginnings of the movement that was the Arctic Monkeys<\/a> occurred around 2006 after the release of Whatever People Say I am, That\u2019s What I\u2019m Not. But for the lucky few who remember, the wheels were already in motion in the previous years, when free demos they\u2019d give out to people at gigs sparked the beginnings of a social media frenzy they\u2019d never come back from.<\/p>\n 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\u2019Malley went to Manchester to see Australian rockers the Vines. It wasn\u2019t something they did all that often \u2013 go to gigs \u2013 but this one in particular set off a domino effect where that\u2019s all they wanted to do, lines blurring between wanting to enjoy the energy in the audience and wanting to be on stage themselves.<\/p>\n But in the minds of a young Turner, Helders, and O\u2019Malley, there was a bigger storm on the horizon that they had no idea they\u2019d 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. \u201cWe still talk about [the Vines gig] now, getting the train in the morning, going right up to the front. And all the opening acts \u2014 this band called the Bandits and this band called Nada Surf,\u201d Turner recalled to EW<\/a>.<\/p>\n He continued, \u201cThat was really the start. We were going to shows whenever we could after that. We\u2019d just started playing together that summer, in me parents\u2019 garage. We\u2019d be trying to play \u2018Get Free\u2019 by the Vines. And the Datsuns \u2014 they had a song called \u2018Harmonic Generator,\u2019 and we used to do a cover of that. I\u2019m sad that I missed [seeing] the Strokes in Sheffield for\u00a0Is This It, though. I was a little bit late to the party there.\u201d<\/p>\n In the haze of the excitement of Vines, the Bandits and Nada Surf, there wasn\u2019t 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\u00a0Be Here Now,\u00a0he 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.<\/p>\n Thus, Turner\u2019s famed line, \u201cI just wanted to be one of The Strokes,\u201d likely isn\u2019t 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\u2019d become leaders of.<\/p>\n And then, from there, their world cracked wide open. Eventually, it wasn\u2019t 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n And supposedly, all of this is why \u2013 going back to those seminal moments, at gigs with eyes wide like wonder as the Arctic Monkeys embraced a new kind of excitement \u2013 all of these references feel especially poignant now. Even if they\u2019ve 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. <\/p>\n