Sunday, August 16th, 2009

"Take It Or Leave It"

Arctic Monkeys cover The Strokes

Photo via arcticmonkeys.com arcticmonkeys.comArctic Monkeys and The Strokes. Two bands from opposite sides of the Atlantic who became huge in their respective homelands despite not bringing anything especially new to the rock’n’roll table. Or perhaps that’s exactly why. Easy to appreciate, hooky pop tunes delivered with a requisite amount of attitude by young men with good cheekbones will never go out of style, I suppose.

But it will go on a break. Arctic Monkeys took a breather following 2007’s Favourite Worst Nightmare to allow singer Alex Turner to work on his arguably more interesting side-project The Last Shadow Puppets, but have since regrouped and will release their third album in Humbug on August 25 with North American touring to follow, including a September 29 date at the Kool Haus in Toronto.

The Strokes have been on the back burner a while longer, having turned out no new music since 2006’s First Impressions Of Earth, but most of the band released solo projects, the latest of which to be announced comes from singer Julian Casablancas – his solo record Phrazes For the Young is due out sometime this Fall. But with all that out of their systems, they are aiming to release a new Strokes record in the early part of 2010.

This cover the Arctic Monkeys did of one of the catchiest tunes from the Strokes’ debut apparently comes from a television performance – note the existence of terrible quality video – but details elude me. I can tell you that they pull it off pretty well, Turner’s accent a more than suitable substitute for Casablancas’ sneer.

Alex Turner talks to Spinner about some of the influences on their latest long-player while Casablancas details some of his ambitious plans for his solo tour to NME.

MP3: Arctic Monkeys – “Take It Or Leave It”
Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Take It Or Leave It” (live)
Video: The Strokes – “Take It Or Leave It” (live)

By : Frank Yang at 11:17 am

Category: Chromewaves Radio