8. The Accent
Legend has it that Al used to put on a faux-American twang, like he was a pop-punk singer, until someone asked him why he did it. Over time, he dropped the voice in favour of his natural Sheffield tones, and in turn the Arctic Monkeys brought a sense of Yorkshire to the charts. Turner's Northern accent is more than a giant "This is who I am, deal with it" to everyone: it makes the music realer, his experiences truer and his frontman persona more vulnerable. He's not the greatest singer to ever live, and he never hides it with vibrato or BBC English; it really does feel like Alex Turner is just a normal lad from suburban Sheffield, and that's what gives the lyrics their charm. And whilst it's great to hear words like "owt", "Topshop" and "icky man" make it into pop music, it's just much nicer when bands don't dress their music up with something they're not: don't pretend you're from New York City if you're actually from Rotherham.