The Arctic Monkeys Rated Their Own Songs, And Turns Out They Rather Like Themselves

They may not have pleased every critic with their latest album, the loungey Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino, but at least the Arctic Monkeys think their own songs are pretty damn good.

In a recent interview on BBC Radio 2, frontman Alex Turner and drummer Matt Helders were given the opportunity to rate some classic Arctic Monkeys cuts out of five — in honour of their latest single, ‘Four Out Of Five’.

First up was their breakout single ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’, which they awarded a plum four out of five — although they admitted the drums were a bit off. “There’s a few things I’d change about it now, but I don’t want to get into that. The snare’s a bit cranked,” Helders remarked, with Turner adding they were “irritating”.

Turner loved the next track though, awarding the Favourite Worst Nightmare cut ‘Brianstorm’ a five out of five.

“When one of my friends who’s not in a band first heard it, he said it was the best thing he’d ever heard,” Helders added.

AM’s ‘Snap Out Of It’ scored a four out of five (“It’s not that great to play live,” Turner reasoned), while the band’s cover of Girls Aloud’s ‘Love Machine’ managed only a paltry two.

“I think the performance were a two out of five,” Helders said. “That’s the charm of it, though,” Turner replied.

Their ratings were definitely more positive than those for Tranquility Base…, which received lukewarm reviews upon its release last month (our own reviewer labelled it “a brick shithouse”).

The band are currently tearing around the European festival circuit before they return to their native Britain to to play some headlining shows in September. Unfortunately, no Australian shows have been announced yet — but we’re guessing they’ll be down here early next year.

Listen to the full interview on BBC Radio 2 here (their chat starts at around the 1 hour 35 minute mark).