Arctic Monkeys biography
Arctic Monkeys wasted no time in recording new material, and released a five-track EP on 24 April 2006, titled Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?. Due to its length, the EP was ineligible to chart as a UK single or album. Furthermore, the record's graphic language has resulted in significantly less radio airplay than previous records, although this was not a reported concern according to an insider - "since they made their name on the Internet... they don't care if they don't get radio play". The release of the EP Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys? just three months after their record-breaking debut album has been criticised by some, who have seen it as "money-grabbing" and "cashing in on their success". The band countered that they regularly release new music not to make money, but to avoid the "boredom" of "spending three years touring on one album".
Soon after the release of the EP in the UK, the band announced that Andy Nicholson would not take part in the band's forthcoming North America tour due to fatigue from "an intensive period of touring". On returning to the UK, Nicholson confirmed that he would leave Arctic Monkeys and start his own project. He also said that he couldn't deal with the band's fame and the success over the previous six months. In a statement on their official website, the band said: "We are sad to tell everyone that Andy is no longer with the band", also confirmed that Nick O'Malley - former bassist with The Dodgems who had drafted in as temporary bassist for the tour - would continue as bassist for the rest of their summer tour schedule. Shortly after, Nick O'Malley was confirmed as the formal replacement for Nicholson.
Arctic Monkeys' first release without Nicholson, the single "Leave Before the Lights Come On", came on 14 August 2006. Turner said that the song was one of the last songs he wrote before their rise to fame, and suggested that "it feels very much like it could be on the album". Peaking at #4 in the UK, the single became the band's first failure to reach #1. The band was re-united at the Leeds Festival when Nicholson met up with his former band mates and his replacement bassist, O'Malley. Only the original band members, minus Nicholson, were present at the award ceremony when Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not won the 2006 Mercury Prize two weeks later.
Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007)
The band's second album,
Favourite Worst Nightmare, was released on 23 April 2007, a week after the release of accompanying single "Brianstorm". Like its predecessor, "Favourite Worst Nightmare" also went straight to #1 in the album charts. Turner described the songs as "very different from last time", adding that the sound of some tracks are "a bit full-on - a bit like "From the Ritz to the Rubble", "The View from the Afternoon", that sort of thing." A secret gig played at Sheffield's Leadmill on 10 February 2007, debuted seven new songs (six from
Favourite Worst Nightmare and one other). Early reviews of the release were positive, and described it as "very, very fast and very, very loud."
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