1. They're The British Band Of The Last Ten Years
Well, one of
the bands. There are so many British bands of the last ten years, but the inclusion of the Arctic Monkeys at the Olympics was a master-stroke on Danny Boyle's part. Arctic Monkeys represent a lot of the good in British youth culture: they work hard, they're brilliantly witty and fiercely eager to improve with every new endeavour. They don't treat their art as a matter of life and death, and they manage connect to a wider range of fans than you'd expect. They've never sold out, they've never been ungrateful of their success, and they don't take their loyal fan-base for granted. They're intelligent, talented and exciting: they were a breath of fresh air to indie seven years ago, and they're still more exciting than any of their arena-headlining contemporaries. Some might argue they've got worse with age. Some might argue that they were never all that to start with. But maybe if there were more bands like the Arctic Monkeys, music would be a wittier, more laid-back place. Maybe we should've believed the hype...