AM

Talk about the Arctic Monkeys, and it always comes back to the fact that the band have never managed to match the everyman-anthem status of 'Whatever People Say I Am...'. But then again, no band I can think of has ever kept that going for very long in the end. And really, in the seven years since that album's release, I'd be disappointed if they hadn't switched it up a bit. With each record, they changed a little, and that's not a bad thing, when each release has been as good as the five albums currently sitting on my imaginary shelf. Scrolling through reviews of 'AM', more reference was made to 'Whatever...' than to any other Monkeys record, which says something about the place the record holds in popular culture, but it's in danger of eclipsing what is quite possibly one of the best albums of the year, from anyone, across any genre.

'AM', peppered with Turner's characteristic drawl, almost-whiny guitars, and the right amount of posturing, explicitly draws on a different kind of night out to their debut offering. This time around, it's less about the night out with your mates, and more about the emotional drag that offers around most people once they're in their cups. It's a sadder version of a night out than just freewheeling around town with your mates, and maybe it's just because we're all a little older, but it almost sounds more honest. It's a 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll' kind of record, but without the glamour put on the theme by other artists - the idea is portrayed as part of everyday life, which isn't a surprising attitude given that they can't escape from being a rock band at this point, but somehow seems fresh in the slightly seedy air they give it (things have always seemed a little seedy from where the boys are standing apparently).

This might be the album I've been looking forward to most this year. The gritty edges to the production, the very Monkeys nature of the music - because regardless of the evolution of the band, no one can ever quite sound like them - was something I almost needed to reappear again. Even though in theory anything highly anticipated has a small chance of living up to expectations, this did. Probably because, at the end of the day, what I expected was an album that filled out the gaps in the songs they'd released, and that's exactly what I got.

(No siblings were 'inflicted' to endless repeats of this album, I had 5 hours of travelling to and from Swansea to fill instead)