My Favorite Arctic Monkeys Deep Cuts in Honor of Alex Turner’s Birthday

Today, January 6, is Alex Turner’s birthday, and the Arctic Monkeys frontman and primary lyricist has been known to put out some stellar B-sides in the 20 years since the band burst on the scene. From instrumental jams to a cover to a Miles Kane collaboration and more, here are my all-time favorite Arctic Monkeys deep cuts in celebration.

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Arctic Monkeys Deep Cuts For My Fellow Mega Fans

“Chun Li Flying Bird Kick”

In the early days of Arctic Monkeys, the band released a few instrumental B-sides. “Chun Li Flying Bird Kick” is one of the earliest, released in 2005 under the single “I Bet You Look Good On the Dance Floor.” It sounds like Alex Turner, Matt Helders, and Jamie Cook just hanging out and having a jam session (Nick O’Malley wouldn’t join on bass until August 2006). It’s a fun track with a youthful energy that delineates the band’s actual youth at the time—they were all around 19 when their first songs were released.

“Stickin To The Floor”

Prior to their debut album Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not, Arctic Monkeys released a series of B-sides alongside their singles. “When the Sun Goes Down” was accompanied by “Stickin To The Floor” among others. Released in January 2006, “Stickin To The Floor” is one of Arctic Monkeys disparaging songs which calls out posers, as the boys were wont to do early on. It’s a short song at one a minute and 20 seconds, but it gets the point across that “not one of you has got an ounce of style in ya.”

“Despair in the Departure Lounge”

Here, Alex Turner started getting melancholy with “Despair in the Departure Lounge,” about missing a woman while going through the motions of getting on a plane. This is a great song already, showcasing Turner’s clever mastery of lyric, but what’s fun about Arctic Monkeys’ early work is Turner’s use of Sheffield slang. He distanced himself from that habit in later years, but it’s a charming little detail that makes his early songs particularly delightful.

“Who The F–k Are Arctic Monkeys?”

Seemingly trying to predict the future in 2006, here Turner asks “in five years’ time will it be ‘who the f–k’s Arctic Monkeys?’” This song is a response to the music industry and it’s penchant for chewing up and spitting out bands at a rapid pace. Turner sings with the confidence of youth, “‘Cause everybody’s got their box / Doing what their told / You pushed my faith near being lost / But we’ll stick to the guns / Don’t care if it’s marketing suicide / We won’t crack or compromise / Your derisory divides / Will never unhinge us.”

“Put Your Dukes Up John”

This was a cover released as a B-side to the single “Leave Before the Lights Come On,” which was not included on Arctic Monkeys debut. In 2006, The Little Flames—of which future The Last Shadow Puppets half, Miles Kane, was the guitarist—went on tour with Arctic Monkeys. It was originally included on The Little Flames’ first and only album, The Day Is Not Today, before the band dissolved in 2007. However, Arctic Monkeys’ cover serves as a reminder of their first tour, when Turner and Kane’s friendship blossomed into what would eventually become a wildly successful side project.

“Matador”

“Matador” was released in 2007 when Arctic Monkeys were dropping their second album, Favorite Worst Nightmare. This album era had more of a sexy edge than their first, pulling the band over the line of straight cheek and into a sly confidence. “Matador” starts out as an instrumental jam, but transitions into a short burst of rhythmic lyrics that carry an air of rap-rock in their cadence. It ends with the band’s early habit of noodling away until the conclusion.

“The Death Ramps”

Honestly, I would listen to an entire instrumental Arctic Monkeys album if they went back to this sort of sound. “The Death Ramps” was a B-side from the 2007 single “Teddy Picker,” which appeared on Favorite Worst Nightmare. The name comes from the alias the band used when they performed with other artists (which were mainly just Richard Hawley and Miles Kane). This is a rollicking song that really ramps up before settling into a gentle fade-out.

“I Haven’t Got My Strange”

“I Haven’t Got My Strange” features two of my favorite lines of any Arctic Monkeys song, which is saying a lot: “I had a hole in the pocket of my favorite coat / And my love dropped into the lining,” uses clever imagery, while “You can’t sleep ’til you’ve sat on the steps to weep ’til you feel like you’ve wept” is great rhythmically and in terms of rhyme scheme. It’s another short one, but it remains a delightful little B-side.

2011 Marked a Vocal Change for Arctic Monkeys Frontman Alex Turner

“Little Illusion Machine”

This song is credited to Miles Kane and the Death Ramps (as mentioned above, the Death Ramps were actually Arctic Monkeys). It marks Kane’s second official collaboration with Arctic Monkeys as a whole, as he also played guitar on “505,” while he and Turner had put out their first album as The Last Shadow Puppets in 2008. In 2011, Arctic Monkeys were gearing up to release their fourth album Suck It And See, and “Little Illusion Machine” was added as a B-side along with a collaboration with Richard Hawley. Overall, “Little Illusion Machine” serves as a great example of Miles Kane’s incredible talent as a frontman.

“Evil Twin”

Another B-side from 2011, “Evil Twin” marks a moment where Alex Turner’s voice changes significantly. He started 2005 with spritely, high-pitched vocals, but grew into his voice starting with Humbug in 2009. For me, “Evil Twin” is the moment where the shift is most obvious. His vocals deepen and he leans into this new sexiness in his lyrics as well. This all comes to a head in 2013, with the release of AM and an entirely new aesthetic.

“2013”

“2013” is a great song for its cleverness, as well as just being a time capsule of the year. It took me a while to realize that “On the back of a transmitter / There’s a little tiny fruit” was a description of an iPhone, but I haven’t been able to get over that line since.

“You’re So Dark”

Finally, “You’re So Dark” is probably Arctic Monkeys’ sexiest song, released in 2013 during the AM era. It includes the lines “You’re so mysterious / Got that obsession with death / I saw you driving your Prius / And even that was Munster Koach-esque.” Never, in all my days, would I think anyone would rhyme the words “death” with “Munster Koach-esque,” but none other than Alex Turner did it.

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