I'm not sure what the point being made is exactly? At the end of the article Una says that these guys are probably a flash in the pan overnight sensation? That would imply they will have no real lasting legacy, in which case how can they ruin anything if they have no lasting impact, positive or negative?

Yeah I'm not sure myself. I'm certain the Arctic Monkeys must have more than two songs though.

I think una raises a good point re: how aggressively indie acts are being promoted and marketed, almost as much as the classic boyband-hype marketing machine these days. ....but then again, don't all acts want to be famous and successful? won't they all 'embrace the machine' to some extent even while saying they'll 'never compromise'? didn't even the clash sell their image on that basis? what amount of marketing is acceptable in terms of indie cred? for example, there has been a huge swell of hype/promotion all year around arcade fire - certainly their album is fantastic, but how come we hear about THEIR album and not some other equally fantastic leftfield stuff? and the most hyped and commercialised band of all time are arguably also the greatest band artistically - the beatles. and suede, the first of the modern fireworks bands (front covers before a single release) actually went on to justify the hype and be one of the best bands of the 90s. my two cents.

On the question of "how popular?", I think it really doesn't matter, what really matters is attitude. Nothing wrong with peing populist or wanting to be on top of the pops, it's the being obsessed with "making it" at the expense of all else that's the problem. Also, Artic Monkeys are hardly the first time a credible band have ripped up the charts using guerilla tactics. Anyone remember the KLF?

It's good. Even tells you to put on tea between making hits.

It keeps bringing me to Aidan's OpEd on Homosexuality........I can't seem to find the new one!!!

Clear your browser cache Gar (delete temporary internet files in Internet Explorer) and it might work.

Not sure what the problem is with it.......I'm using Safari on a MAC

Gar - try this: 1. Open Safari. 2. Select Empty Cache. 3. Click Empty on the Are you sure message box. 4. Exit and relaunch the browser.

Cheers Doc Binokular.....got it working and read the OpEd. Some decent points raised but I agree with Aidan, that most bands are willing to sell out a little bit more these days. I asked Ricky Wilson from Kaiser Chiefs in a recent interview about how they wrote a song about teenagers and 20 somethings getting sick, starting fights etc in mainstream clubs ('I Predict A Riot') that is now getting regular play in those sort of clubs. And what his opinion is on playing shows like CD:UK - He didn't have a solid response, just that they wanted to play to as many people as they could. Is this an OpEd of protecting our indie-cred? Or one about bands selling out? Or one about acts putting as much (if not too much) work into their promotion than the music? Or maybe one merging all those in a melting pot of distaste for the current style of the music scene. For anyone interested in hearing more than the two Artic Monkeys songs mentioned, there is an in-studio session with them on the 'Morning Becomes Eclectic' show over at www.kcrw.org