Welcome back, stranger.

I've only heard the new single, haven't really turned my ear to the lyrics yet, still overly impressed with the step up by the drummer. great performance by him, & I can see why he said he had to hit the gym before the new tour.

That said, there seems very little change of sound, very similar guitar riff to 'Sun goes down'

Honestly, the Arctic Monkeys are pathetic, I've said it before they are a pale shadow of 'Jilted John' and what is interesting about that record is that it was produced by none other than the late Martin Hannett who also produced Joy Division, U2, Stone Rose, Happy Mondays, OMD, The Buzzcocks and New Order. As far as I can see, all the stuff people are cooing over at the moment is bad rehashes of the past. As for Mika, don't get me started!

Oh yes: I'm Back in Black ;-)

have only listened to it a couple of times but not really feeling it yet. It seems quite messy.

Oh, I don't know. They get a bad rap from people who remember the bands they're ripping off. A mate of mine is a big Buzzcocks fan and loves to spit bile at the TV screen every time the Arctic Monkeys come on. I do agree that alot of their music is rehashed but I don't think its pathetic or badly executed, and Turners lyrics place them firmly in the 21st century if this music doesn't. I think the band is over-rated and their critics are over-reacting.
I'm not crazy about them but they have shown flashes of greatness at times. Leave Before the Lights Come On is about as perfect as guitar power-pop gets. Now you're going to tell me who they ripped off to get that song.

P.S I haven't heard the new album.

Ah, they're a decent band but they've been elevated way above their station. What I've head of the new album has been very tune-free and the praise for his lyrics seems to have made Alex Turner concentrate on words more than tunes: always fatal for a band. But they're not a bad band: if they could just write catchy hooks like Kaiser Chiefs....

I also saw a Liverpool band called The Wombats recently - they're doing the Arctic Monkeys' sound much better than the Arctic Monkeys themselves. Without tunes, of course...

Jilted John ? Fuc*in' ada Jules, you must be even older than me.