(Domino)
***
Simply put, the Arctic Monkeys’ fourth outing is “start-to-finish brilliant,” said Barry Nicolson in NME.com. Far from being cowed by the lukewarm critical response to 2009’s Humbug, 25-year-old singer/songwriter Alex Turner responded with his “most carefully crafted collection of songs yet.” Smart, tightly structured, and often “laugh-out-loud funny,” the 12 tracks here more than fulfill the promise that these indie rockers from Sheffield, England, displayed with their 2006 debut—which broke U.K. sales records. They certainly sound like a “band finally settling into itself,” said Bonnie Stiernberg in Paste. Turner’s witty lyrics are for the first time “truly given room to breathe,” and instead of sneering his way through every track, he’s “crooning with new maturity.” But don’t think for a minute that means this four-man band has “gone soft.” Its sound here “won’t blindside you or beat you over the head with anything—but it’ll sure leave a mark.”
