 By distilling the sounds of Franz Ferdinand, the Clash, the Strokes, and the Libertines into a hybrid of swaggering indie rock and danceable neo-punk, the Arctic Monkeys became one of the U.K.'s biggest bands of the new millennium. Alex Turner and Jamie Cook jump-started their careers in 2001 after receiving guitars for Christmas; two years later, they began performing shows around their native Sheffield with drummer Matt Helders and bassist Andy Nicholson. A series of demo recordings followed, and the Arctic Monkeys' audience swelled as fans circulated those recordings via the Internet. The teenaged musicians soon found themselves at the center of a growing media circus, with such outlets as BBC Radio examining the band's music and mounting hype. |
