#27 - Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

27. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino 

Domino, 2018

I chronicled my love affair with Arctic Monkeys in a five-part piece on this blog many years back, and while I thoroughly loved Suck it and See and AM, upon learning the high-concept science fiction premise of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino and the whisperings of its lounge-music vibe, I thought this might be where I got off. And wouldn’t you know it, it not only became my favorite Arctic Monkeys record and my favorite album of 2018. Considering how Alex Turner & company frequently defied my expectations throughout the decade, I can’t say that I’m surprised that I love this album so much. When I needed confidence for my interviews with Johnson County Library that spring, I listened to this album as I slicked back my hair, fake crooning to “Star Treatment.” I vividly remember singing along to the album IN ITS ENTIRETY on a family road trip to Colorado after being subjected to an hours worth of Taylor Swift. 

This is admittedly a goofy album (it is ostensibly about a resort on the moon, with a taqueria on the roof that was very well reviewed, receiving four stars out of five), but the way Turner sells it is essential and makes it cool. Beneath the silly artifice is a set of songs preoccupied by the screen addicted, consumerist dystopia we are currently trapped inside. Where AM was Arctic Monkeys by way of The Stones, Tranquility Base is Arctic Monkeys by way of Serge Gainsbourg. The guitars that are so pervasive on every other Arctic Monkeys album are almost entirely absent here. I don’t think the riskiness of that can be understated. This is a band effectively upending their sound to do something different and pulling it off with aplomb. I’m sure this album has its haters but I don’t think you can argue with the immaculate and innovative production or the wild ideas on display.