Arctic Monkeys: Humbug [DOMINO]

Why you'll love it

Humbug is the album where Arctic Monkeys grew up, recorded in the Mojave desert with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and in New York with James Ford. It went to No. 1 in the UK and points straight at the slinky, heavy sound of AM.

This edition

• Single LP, 10 tracks
• Domino pressing of the 2009 album
• Produced by Josh Homme and James Ford

About the album

After two albums of breakneck, kitchen-sink indie that made them the biggest new band in Britain, Arctic Monkeys did something nobody expected: they decamped to Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California, handed the controls to Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, and came back with a dark, heavy, swirling record full of stoner-rock riffs and surf-guitar reverb. Some fans were confused in 2009. Most of them have since come around.

Alex Turner slowed down, too, trading the rapid-fire observational lyrics for something stranger and more romantic, and on "Cornerstone" he wrote one of the loveliest songs of his career. "Crying Lightning" and "My Propeller" crackle with menace, and you can hear the blueprint for AM being sketched out in real time. If AM is your favourite, this is the one to grab next.

Also at Kops: more Arctic Monkeys on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Domino, first out in 2009.