Arctic Monkeys and We Are Scientists

Live at The Warfield, San Francisco, CA June 1st, 2006

Wednesday I had the pleasure of seeing some of the hippest little hipsters shoveling heaps of hip into our (h)i(p)Tunes. The show went a little like this. We were the tallest people at the show, because SF hipsters are not allowed to be applying to colleges yet. We sat with the rest of the HS sophomores and waited for the Scientists to come and falsify some data. Most everyone at the show was yet to have seen either band, so there was a palpable "i hope they are as good as the blogs tell me I'm supposed to think they are" feeling in the room.

Luckily by nature's grace I was able to see the Scientists twice in London and the Arctic Monkeys in Barcelona in the fall. (this was when leadsinger Alex Turner was the 19 year old king of England, with their debut single at #1, every magazine performing lurid sexual acts on them, and their concert tickets being scalped for $200 (100 quid a ticket you little muts, SEE THE MONKEYS! [in scratchy british scalper speak].

But for now, We Are Scientists had the floor. Many call them the Thinking Man's "the Killers". but they're better than that. They actually give a shit while the Killers have no souls (though not really their fault, they're from Vegas) The Scientists pretty much rocked their socks off,with lead singer/guitarist Keith Murray battling it out on the guitar, making for a very entertaining show.

These guys are so catchy, I don't really get why they're not popular. I should be careful what I wish for, or I'll end up hearing "The Great Escape" with absurdly fish-hooking chorus or the throttling "Inaction" all over the radio.

We Are Scientists - "The Great Escape" http://www.stanford.edu/~joshsc/08%20The%20Great%20Escape.m4a

We Are Scientists - "Inaction" http://www.stanford.edu/~joshsc/03%20Inaction.m4a

The, motherfucking. Arctic Monkeys. If you haven't heard this band yet, we have an issue. Simply put, this is the biggest band in Britain, and you have no idea. Maybe it's some conspiracy by US record companies to slight us out of good music, but you're hard pressed to even see these guys on MtvU for some reason. Well for those hardy enough to get tickets to this show (it sold out in 14 minutes) none of that mattered, and they screamed like the Warfield was giving away free lapdances. The Monkeys tore through a fun set, reminding us the only reason there's new music (new ringtones!, from "A Certain Romance"). Nothing too adventurous, just straight forward British Indie Pop Rock About Not Getting Into Clubs, Laughing at Police, and Being Scared to Talk to Pretty Girls. Rather pertinent subjects if you ask me. While throwing in a off-beat cover or some more stage banter would have made the show a bit more personal, they still lived up to the 'ype.

Please, don't be stupid, download and listen to these songs. The future of your music taste depends on it. Right click, Save as "my god, rock music lives!"

Sample awesome lyric "Last night these two bouncers And one of em's alright The other one's the scary one His way or no way, totalatarian" This one is my personal favorite.

The Arctic Monkeys - "From the Ritz to the Rubble" http://www.stanford.edu/~joshsc/02%20From%20the%20Ritz%20to%20the%20Rubble.mp3

Their hit single, as heard in every pub, club, cab, and headphone in London.

The Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" http://www.stanford.edu/~joshsc/15%20I%20Bet%20You%20Look%20Good%20On%20The%20Dancef.m4a

Their epic set closer. Dueling Guitars. Huge Dynamic Changes. A Breakdown Talking About Loving Your Friends. Big Fat Good Music.

The Arctic Monkeys - "A Certain Romance" http://www.stanford.edu/~joshsc/17%20A%20Certain%20Romance.m4a

Don't be the last kid on your block still thinking The White Stripes are what new, forward thinking music is like.