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Saturday 8 March 2014

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not review: Sporadic genus from the Arctic Monkeys

As almost undoubtedly the most hyped record in British history, the Arctic Monkey's first album was drenched in rave reviews on its release in 2006 and swiftly became the fastest selling debut album in UK chart history, as well as harvesting a multitude of end-of-year awards. And despite the massively improved musical strength of the quartet's more recent releases, Whatever People Say I Am... retains a soul and style noticeably missing from the band's technically more accomplished records.

Far from today's arena tours and number one albums, Whatever People Say I Am... was written at a time when the Monkeys were still teenage clubbers whose tours rarely took them further than their native heartland of Sheffield. As such, the record's thirteen tracks lack the polish and experience exhibited on later releases, but are instead lyrically driven from direct observations of the culture of their home city. Despite this seeming enclosed concept, there's a remarkable level of variation in the styles and themes of the songs; tracks like I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor dissect the mentalities of partygoers in hails of power chords and shouted choruses, while the slower but deceptively catchy Mardy Bum considers the ever-relatable topic of domestic arguments with sharper lyricism, "I've seen your frown and it's like looking down the barrel of a gun and it goes off" providing a case in point. Elsewhere there's a tentative critique of warring music scenes on A Certain Romance and a poignant but witty discussion of prostitution in When The Sun Goes Down. The variety in lyrical themes is complimented by an impressive arsenal of musical techniques for such a young band, although almost every track becomes dominated by a single tectonic riff at one point or another, a subtle indication of the group's relative lack of songwriting experience. The record's constant references to the band's experiences of Sheffield's culture result in the creation of a homespun style often juxtaposed with the dark lyrical themes, a side of the band which unfortunately became more and more supressed as their music became more sleek and polished. It's not quite a concept album, but it does mark a high point in observational lyricism with frontman Alex Turner's lyrics occasionally sounding more like poems than songs, a feat again rarely achieved by the band after the release of their debut.

Of course, there's a double edged sword to this, as the musical similarity of many of the tracks results in some samey and rather unmemorable moments; if it wasn't for the lyrics, you might not realised the song had actually changed between The View From The Afternoon and I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor. Of course, albums where the songs seep into one mass of music have been done before to great effect, take System of a Down's Toxicity for instance, but the fact that the lyrical themes vary so dynamically from song to song by comparison means that this becomes a hindrance to the effect of listening to the record all the way through. And despite the hype, there are few truly original points on the album; the jarring power chord guitars could have been Franz Ferdinand's and the distorted and empathised vocals (a technique used liberally throughout the Monkey's career) is clearly lifted from the work of The Strokes. This does improve during the later stages of the album however, as the smash and grab hits of the first few songs give way to more intelligent and careful writing on Riot Van and When The Sun Goes Down, a single which, remarkably, managed the reach the top of the charts despite it's somewhat commercially unattractive themes of seediness and prostitution. This is all in preparation for the true high point of the album (and possibly the band's career) on the record's final track A Certain Romance. It's here that the sound of the whole album is condensed into a single moment of genius, a distorted riff fading into a tentative guitar melody eventually to be replaced by one of the record's loudest and most violent riffs, over which Turner sings cautious and uncertain lyrics about the futility of the different factions of the local scene.


Whatever People Say I Am...  is by no means a perfect album, nor is it the Monkey's best. It's songs are often far too similar, and the young band's lack of experience often shines through with a lack of musical depth. However, the homegrown lyrical explorations and moments of true brilliance make it surely one of the most impressive debuts of recent years.

8/10

Sunday 2 March 2014

Of Mice and Men, West Yorkshire Playhouse review: A powerful but inconsistent retelling

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck's cynical and iconic portrait of the American dream, has been adapted for stage and screen so many times that it has become near impossible to create a production which delivers fresh innovation to the classic story. And while this West Yorkshire Playhouse effort adds nothing new to Steinbeck's 1937 novella and suffers from almost inevitable issues of pacing, it remains a success through some stellar cast performances and expert set use.

Steinbeck's tragic tale of two migrant workers to escaping their lives of back-breaking ranch work at the peak of the great depression has become so ingrained in both American and international literary culture since it's publication almost 80 years that retelling the story gives today's scriptwriters a mere two options: stick rigidly to the source material or make a drastic conceptual change in an effort to bring something new to the overstudied book. It's evident from the start that this production opts for the former, and while this seems a shame considering the Playhouse's superb recent version of Orwell's 1984 which succeeded in making dramatic and unorthodox use of modern sound design, lighting and scripting to augment the classic novel, it does at least lay a solid foundation for the cast to work with. Despite a few fluffed lines, Henry Pettigrew is convincing and a little shifty as George, the more intelligent of the duo, but it's Dyfrig Morris's Lenny who really steals the show, brilliantly portraying a character fraught with self-doubt and then-unknown mental disorders failing to cope with the rigours of normal society. His shocking breakdown in the play's final scenes of melodrama confirm him as the star of the performance, despite appearing to struggle with the American accent and dialogue in the opening minutes. There are also strong showings from Andy Clark's charismatic Slim and John Trindle's twisted Curley, although Heather Christian is a little wooden and flat as Curley's Wife, who is in any case more of a symbol than a character anyway.

When adapting such a short story so heavy in dialogue rather than plotting it's difficult to avoid pacing problems, and this production of Of Mice and Men is a case in point. Extended periods of speech lead to repetition of dialogue and themes which, while acting to reinforce Steinbeck's message on the page, fails to captivate a theatre audience. Considering this is a problem present in even the first adaptions of the tale, it's disappointing that so little effort was made to counter it in this version. This creates a rather jarring play which sustains long sections with few actual events before leaping without warning into short, dramatic periods of action. While this at least makes the action more shocking and surprising when it actually arrives, the lack of consistency in the pacing which this creates remains unjustified. On a positive note, like 1984 the play makes effective use of its resources to create a more unique performance. Set design is particularly stunning, as the Quarry Theatre's stage is deepened to reflect the endless expanse of California illustrated so vividly by Steinbeck in the book, and a raised platform at the back of the stage allows for action on two levels. Use of soft background drones also helps to create a sense of atmosphere, as does a range of light intensities through hundreds of light bulbs suspended above the stage, a choice both practical and  aesthetically impressive.

Despite its reluctance to alter Steinbecks's original work and its major pacing issues, great acting and an impressive set at least makes this version of Of Mice and Men entertaining and well worth a trip to the theatre.

7/10