Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

So yes I must be the last person in the world to hear and review this track but come on be kind, I've been documenting the greatest albums and singles of the last four decades as well as writting a disertation, that as you can probably imagine takes up a fair chunk of my time. Anyway there's been alot of talk about the Monkey's new dirrection, how'd they'd gone dark and heavy. You'd could be mistaken for believing this when you first hear Crying Lightening it's built on the back of a big fuzzy bassline, and a creepy sea shanty riff, Turner's vocals are less hyper than usual and he seems to be pained with added vigour and soul. However, this record feels like the natural evolution of Favorite Worst Nightmare the guitar tricks present there have become bigger bolder and more central. They've taken what they do best and made it ominous and creepy, the track isn't far removed from If You Were There, Beware it's just been sexed up and taken to the nth degree. The bassline is also standard Monkey's fair, it's just been drop tuned, rather than being sharp and bouncy, its rubbery and floppy but it's the same irresistable groove that we all love. It's the darker elements of Favorite Worst Nightmare strung together, and I have to say I unashamedly love it. They've gone from street level punchlines to big broad brush strokes, this song sounds epic, this is a track that fills arenas, this isn't the Monkey's playing three times fast, this is a band devolping and groove and forging a widescreen anthem, damn it this is a band with soul. So the Arctic Monkeys have opted for atomspheric crunch rather than bouncy pop, I salute their bravery, we might not see them on MTV Hits any time soon, but I doubt they care, and nor should you.