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CHART COMMENTARY
from JAMES MASTERTON - 24/10/05
I like the way this
feels.
For the first time in a long time you average casual observer will glance at
the very top of the singles chart and have a genuine "who the hell are
they?" moment. For the first time in a long time we have a genuine shock, in
your face, in from nowhere record sitting pretty at the very top of the
singles chart. True, nobody had really heard of the Pussycat Dolls
before they hit the top last month but it had at least picked up some
mainstream coverage before its release. No, this week is different.
The Arctic Monkeys are perhaps the first ever example of a group shot
to stardom thanks to little more than internet word of mouth. Alex, Jamie,
Andy and Matt hail from Sheffield and made their first record earlier this
year - a limited edition EP entitled 'Five Minutes With The Arctic Monkeys'.
Of course in the digital age there is no such thing as "limited edition" and
copies of the tracks were shared widely across every p2p network you can
think of. The music press began to rave about them in the summer, thanks to
a set at the Reading and Leeds festivals and the phenomenon came to a head
last month when the boys played the London Astoria to a sell-out crowd who
sang along to every single track. Normally that isn't so weird - but of
course this was for a group who had yet to release a full-blown official
record.
Thus it was that their debut single 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'
was released last week and with few big singles from established artists
hitting the shops the way was clear for the record to charge to Number One,
ensuring at a stroke that a lack of mainstream coverage is unlikely to be a
problem any more. Hearing the record you can see just why hey have got
people so excited. Their style is reminiscent of early Libertines
tracks, music that crackles with an energy that commands you to sit up and
pay attention. Cries from the trendy press that they have found the next big
thing aren't always that accurate but we are long overdue for the next big
British musical "find" and for the moment it is entirely possible that the
Arctic Monkeys are fit to wear the mantle.
In a cute coincidence, the last British guitar-based act to shoot to Number
One with their debut release were McFly so it seems only appropriate
that the teen stars have the honour of the second biggest new hit of the
week and indeed become one of only two acts to see their records debut
inside the Top 10 this week. 'I Wanna Hold You', another track taken from
their 'Wonderland' album breaks their run of Number One hits but still
becomes their seventh straight Top 5 hit single, the track having a slightly
harder edge than some of their other releases but still retaining the nod
backwards to the golden age of 60s pop that characterises much of their
work. Strange but true: McFly have yet to have a single peak at an even
numbered chart position, all their singles to date having made either 1,3 or
5.
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