10 Albums That Will Make You Love Garage Rock Music
6. Whatever People Say I Am - Arctic Monkeys
The entire garage rock revival in the early '00s really started to throw the entire rock scene for a loop. Just when you thought that the next version of rock was going to be born out of the pop punk or nu metal genres, you had acts coming from all around to strip things back down to what rock and roll was all about in the early days. It was enough to light a fire under the belly of Alex Turner, and Arctic Monkeys was the prime example of what an old school band can do in the digital age.
Spreading their message through MySpace, Whatever People Say I Am became one of the most buzzed about albums before it had even properly come out, with the Monkeys taking the blueprint they saw from bands like the Strokes and putting their own unique twist on it. As much as bands like The Hives and the Strokes may have had their own sound at the time, what sticks out most on this record is the lyrics, which are not necessarily for the faint of heart.
Almost working as a concept album, Alex seems to take us through all of the dangers of nightlife in the UK, from the dance rock bangers of I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor to eventually seeing the seedy nature of what happens after hours on When the Sun Goes Down. It's rough around the edges and can be a little offputting at first, but for garage rock, you wouldn't want it any other way.