Suck It and See
Suck It and See is the fourth studio album by English rock band Arctic Monkeys, released on 6 June 2011 by Domino Recording Company. The album's songs were written by frontman Alex Turner in 2010 on an acoustic guitar in his, at the time, Brooklyn home. It was produced in Los Angeles at Sound City Studios by the band's longtime collaborator James Ford in early 2011, using mostly live takes. The album's title, a British phrase meaning "give it a try", was viewed as provocative in the United States due to being misinterpreted as referencing fellatio, and was subsequently censored in some locations. The artwork features the album title in black over a cream coloured background.
Musically, Suck It and See represents a departure for the band following the darker sound of its predecessor Humbug, instead featuring a lighter guitar pop and psychedelic pop sound. It draws influences from post-punk, country music, surf rock, and glam rock. Its lyrical content features themes of romance, heartbreak, ageing, and loneliness, as well as several references to films and British colloquialisms.
Suck It and See received generally positive reviews from music critics, with many calling it an improvement over its predecessor. Critics generally complimented the band's stylistic shift, although opinion varied on Turner's lyrics. It became the band's fourth consecutive number-one debut in the UK, having been certified platinum in the country, and its second top 15 album in the US. Upon release, the album was promoted by the singles "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair", "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala", "Black Treacle", and its title track, as well as a global tour and several television appearances.
Background and recording
The band's previous record Humbug was released in August 2009 to positive reviews from critics, that noted the album's tone was darker, compared to their previous work. Following the release of Humbug, film director and friend Richard Ayoade was directing a film adaptation of Joe Dunthorne's novel, Submarine. Ayoade chose frontman Alex Turner for the film's soundtrack, who composed six original tracks.The band wanted to get into the studio straight after the tour ended, but did not have any new material. Throughout 2010, Turner wrote the majority of the songs at his home in Brooklyn, New York, telling Metro magazine: "I wrote a lot of the new album while I was living in New York and I found myself using more English colloquialisms than ever." Turner finished recording the soundtrack in April 2010, and first talks of recording Suck It and See occurred in May. Shortly after, Jamie Cook visited Turner in New York City, to write some guitar parts. In September of that year, Turner and the band, alongside producer James Ford, reunited in London to develop the tracks.
Recording and mixing took place at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, California with producer James Ford over five weeks in January–February 2011. The plan was to record it over two weeks and then take a break to listen to it, but they later decided to go straight into mixing. Turner has commented that rather than going into the studio with only rough sketches of songs, and making heavy use of overdubbing, the band focused much of their time rehearsing written songs together, coming up with new ideas in the process. Turner stated that the band recorded most of the album live in the studio, "So that meant we could really concentrate on beefing up the guitar sounds." The band tried to record one track a day, with some taking more time to put "finishing touches." During the sessions the songs were recorded in a concrete order, which at the time was thought to be the final order the album would be sequenced in. The track "Piledriver Waltz" was first released on Turner's Submarine, where it was credited to Turner as a solo artist, featuring Ford on drums. The version included on Suck It and See is a re-recording with the whole band involved. "Brick By Brick" was the first track done for the album, with a demo being recorded by Turner and drummer Matt Helders after touring ended in 2010.
Composition
Musical style and influences
Suck It and See represents a departure for the band after the darker sound of their previous album Humbug. Speaking to NME shortly before the album's release, drummer Matt Helders promised to deliver a more "instant", "poppy", and "vintage" sound in comparison to Humbug. Featuring a wide variety of styles, commentators have characterised the music as guitar pop, indie rock, indie pop, and psychedelic pop. Consequence of Sound further noted the presence of surf rock and the band's "own interpretation" of glam rock. Q magazine calls the album "the sound of a band drawing back the curtains and letting the sunshine in".The album has been compared to the works of the Smiths and Richard Hawley. Turner cited as influences artists such as Nick Cave, John Cale, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, the Pixies and the Beach Boys. Turner also looked to country music for inspiration, despite the album having no identifiable country sounds: "There's something about the formula of those songs and lyrics that I really connect to. There's some really wonderful songs by those old country guys like George Jones or Townes Van Zandt or Roger Miller. They're really funny, really sad and tender and they clearly know what they're doing in terms of songwriting as a craft. Sometimes they're smart-arsed, but I'm kind of guilty of that myself. Willie Nelson's Crazy is approaching perfection."
Artwork and title
According to Turner, the title is "an old Britishism, like a bit Dick Van Dyke-y, like 'give it a try' almost – it'd be a slogan for some candy." He acknowledged that saying " really travel very well". The band settled on Suck It and See as the title after debating between titles such as The Rain-Shaped Shimmer Trap, The Thunder-Suckle Fuzz Canyon, The Blond-O-Sonic Rape Alarm, and Thriller, according to a band interview in the NME. In the United States, the title on the cover sleeve was covered by a sticker in certain big-box retailers. In an interview with British radio station XFM, Turner said: "They think it is rude, disrespectful and they're putting a sticker over it in America in certain stores, big ones." The English idiom "suck it and see" means that something must be tried first, appearing, for example, in a 2010 The Economist headline and in the advertising slogan of Andrews Antacid lozenges.Regarding the artwork, which just features the album title in black over a cream-colored background, Turner said: “Once we decided to call the album what it’s called we just decided to go with something very plain and simple. It slowly became apparent that that type of cover was ideal for it. What else would you have otherwise? An image of a person with a lollipop in their mouth? Probably not.” He also said it represented the music, “The cover is the cover because the music is really quite simple. There isn’t any marked level of overdubs on it, and it’s recorded quite basically.”
Release and promotion
On 4 March 2011, the band premiered on its website a new track called "Brick by Brick" with lead vocals by Matt Helders. Helders explained that it was "not a single, just a tease of what is coming and that is it is going to be on the upcoming album." The album's title and release date were unveiled six days later on 10 March.Arctic Monkeys embarked in May 2011 on their Suck It and See Tour. They headlined the Benicàssim Festival 2011 alongside the Strokes, Arcade Fire and Primal Scream. They also headlined Oxegen 2011, Super Bock Super Rock 2011, V Festival 2011, Rock Werchter and T in The Park. They confirmed on 7 February that they were playing two "massive homecoming shows" at the Don Valley Bowl in Sheffield on 10 and 11 June, support included Miles Kane, Anna Calvi, the Vaccines and Dead Sons and Mabel Love, clips from the show were also used in the music video for "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala". They played at Lollapalooza in Chicago, Illinois from 5–7 August 2011. On 21 August, they also played at Lowlands, the Netherlands. The tour continued until March 2012.
On 13 May, Arctic Monkeys appeared on Later... with Jools Holland and performed four tracks from the album: "Library Pictures", "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair", "Reckless Serenade" and "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala".
Singles
Four singles were released to promote the album. The lead single, "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair", was released digitally on 12 April 2011, and on 16 April three thousand 7" vinyl copies were released worldwide by the band as part of Record Store Day, backed with "Brick by Brick". It was given a wider release on 30 May 2011, available on 10" vinyl and digital download with backed with "The Blond-O-Sonic Shimmer Trap" and "I.D.S.T.", and on 7" vinyl, backed with "I.D.S.T.".The second single taken from the album, "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala", was released on 15 August 2011, backed with a new Death Ramps track featuring Miles Kane, "Little Illusion Machine ". Most of the stock was burned because of the London riots. A limited edition 7" Vinyl of the single was then released over the band's website on 14 August. The song reached No. 15. in Belgium. On 31 October 2011, the title track "Suck It and See" was released as the third single, backed with a new song, "Evil Twin". They performed the song on The Graham Norton Show on 28 October. The fourth and final single, "Black Treacle", was released on 23 January 2012, backed with a second new Death Ramps song, "You & I", featuring Richard Hawley. In March, the band embarked on a North American stadium tour supporting the Black Keys.