WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN

Maybe you're about to read this and find out about a band called Arctic Monkeys. Or maybe you already know more about them than a thousand words could ever convey. Maybe you downloaded their songs months before record companies cared and maybe you were grabbed by the sudden urge to drive for half a day just to see them play. Maybe you were one of the kids who's taken up surfing across Monkeys' crowds as a full-time hobby. And maybe you've also ended up with a permanent monitor-related injury because of it.

Because unless your definition of success rests on how many private yachts you can afford, Arctic Monkeys were already massive way before they inked a deal with Domino in June 2005. People obsessing over the songs? Sold-out gigs full of stagediving nutcases? Hardcore fans pressed up against venue windows, just hoping to catch a glimpse? Such checkpoints have all been ticked. Much has been made of what an "internet sensation" that Arctic Monkeys have become, but it's patently obvious after over six weeks in the UK Top 10 with their Domino debut single, "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor", that it's much more than that. Sure, the internet may have fueled the early interest, but they had the songs and the live show to back it up. Any worries about whether or not the enthusiasm would translate to North America were dispelled when all five shows here in November sold out weeks in advance. And here we are at single #3, the gritty tale of streetgirls and the men who ruin them. A song that begins with the aching sweetness of a troubadour's swoon before the weight of the song's story comes crashing down around. Alex Turner's lyrics paint detailed pictures that takes the street documentarian eye of a hip hop emcee and crosses it with the distinctly British observational styles of Davies and Weller.