Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys are an indie rock band from Sheffield in England. Friends and
neighbours Alex Turner and Jamie Cook were given electric guitars for Christmas in
2001. After teaching themselves to play, they formed the band in 2002 with two of
Turner’s school friends, Andy Nicholson and Matt Helders. Turner was lead singer
and guitarist, Cook and Nicholson also played the guitar and Helders played the
drums and sang. Nicholson left the band in summer 2006 and was replaced by
guitarist Nick O’Malley. The lyrics of their songs are typically about working class
life in the north of England and they’re sung in Turner’s strong Yorkshire accent.

Their first two singles went straight to number one in the UK chart. Unusually,
Arctic Monkeys weren’t marketed or advertised by a record company. They actually
became popular because their music was put on the Internet by fans. Record
company employees were banned from their concerts. Finally, the band signed a
contract with the independent record company Domino Records in 2005 and their
first album was released at the beginning of the following year. Over 350,000 copies
were sold in the first week, making it the fastest selling first album in UK chart
history. The band were awarded major music prizes for the album at the 2006 Brit
Awards and the NME Awards. The members of the band are very shy; when they
won the Brit Award, a ‘fifth member of the band’ collected the award. He was later
identified as a friend of the band!

Arctic Monkeys have recently announced an unusual collaboration with all-girl pop
band Girls Aloud. This single will be released soon.

A. Find words or expressions which mean the same as:

1- Main:………………… 4 - Eventually: ………………………..

2- Directly: ………………….. 5 - Awards: ……………………….
3- Strangely: ………………………

B. Answer the questions.

1 Did Turner and Cook have guitar lessons? How do you know?

2 If you listen to their songs, how can you tell where they come from?

3 How did people find out about their first two singles?

4 What was unusual about their first album?

5 Why do you think it is unusual for Arctic Monkeys to work with Girls Aloud?
Suggested answers:

A.

1- Main: lead 4 - Eventually: finally

2- Directly: straight 5 - Awards: prizes
3- Strangely: unusually

B.

1 No, they didn’t. They taught themselves to play.

2 You can tell because of Turner’s strong Yorkshire accent in their songs.
3 People heard about the singles on the Internet.
4 Their first album was the fastest selling first album in the UK.
5 Because they play different types of music. Arctic Monkeys play indie music
and Girls Aloud play pop music.