19. Stuck On The Puzzle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAEznTlViA Artist: Alex Turner Album: 'Submarine EP' Year: 2011 Best lyric: "I'm not the kind of fool who's gonna sit and sing to you / About stars, girl." Because man cannot live on Arctic Monkeys alone, Alex gave us 'Submarine'. And though it's half the size of following LP, 'Suck It And See', it's actually the most spell-binding record the man has ever released. 'Stuck on the Puzzle' is a Richard Hawley-esque song about a girl that Alex probably shouldn't have fallen in love with. It's what you'd imagine to be the first song on the "Love Songs" mixtape your pessimistic dad made for you - just as Oliver Tate was given in 'Submarine' - and the song's not only deft in its poetry and sweet in its chord structure, it's rooted in a small village that we could all imagine growing up in. And it's the soundtrack to a love story we could all imagine living. 18. Teddy Picker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKrC2PcNSIY Artist: Arctic Monkeys Album: 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' Year: 2007 Best lyric: "Assuming that all things are equal / Who'd want to be men of the people / When there's people like you?" There's something about intellects arguing, ranting or getting their knickers in a twist. You only have to watch David Mitchell to realise how brilliantly conveyor-belted his fury hits its victims, with one "and another thing" after the other until you're physically exhausted by the onslaught of actually-really-good-points. And when Alex Turner's got something on his mind, he loads his shouting shotgun with much the same vigour; 'Teddy Picker' is an almost rap-speed dissection of fame, people's expectations of it, and the Monkeys' experience of it. The solo fires just like an AK47 - particularly live at the Apollo - and it's perhaps the biggest continuation from the debut onto 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' in terms of delivery and finger-pointing. It's gloriously angry and coolly controlled: the rant of an intellect.