The Sprout

Preview: Arctic Monkeys & The Vaccines

Posted by neilramsden from Cardiff - Published on 22/06/2011 at 09:42
2 comments » - Tagged as Music

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On 1st November 2011, Arctic Monkeys and ‘very special guests’ The Vaccines play what I’m sure will be a sold-out Motorpoint Arena (or as most of us still call it, the CIA).

I first saw The Vaccines at Cardiff’s own SWN festival in 2010, when they stood out as the best band I saw over the weekend. There’s nothing complicated, deep or too subtle about them: their music is just catchy, bouncy pop-rock, which this year has really taken off and gained them a lot of fans. Amazingly they only formed in June 2010, and less than a year later their album, the brilliant What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?, reached number four in the UK charts.

Arctic Monkeys on the other hand released their first album back in 2006. Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not was the soundtrack to my A levels and leaving school, and I still love it now. It also remains the fastest selling debut album by a band, and often appears on lists of the best albums of the 2000s. Alex Turner’s lyrics have matured over the years but his skill in writing clever and cheeky turns of phrase is still evident. Their second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, took a while to grow on me but now it gets played as often on my mp3 player as their début, while I have yet to get their third album Humbug. Their latest offering, Suck It and See, has received really good reviews from most parties, and it is in the process of growing on me.

Apparently they are an excellent live band, encouraging audience singing and general participation. The two bands are similar in their witty lyrics about the real world, catchy riffs and indie-rock sound, and they should put on a great show. If there are still tickets available you need to grab one, as this should be one of the gigs of the year in Cardiff.

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IMAGE: Arctic Monkeys by wonker