Arctic Monkeys at Rumsey Playfield at Central Park (05/24/11)

Photos: Geoff Green

Suck It And See, the new album from Arctic Monkeys dropped this Tuesday (June 7) via Domino. Pitchfork hasn’t weighed in yet, but here’s some of what the Guardian had to say about SIAS:

…
The biggest danger here, though, is that the Arctic Monkeys are being hauled back into the safety of the British indie-rock fold. They are sounding less like the Queens and a touch more like The Queen Is Dead. The sound of the Smiths is turned up discreetly throughout; there is an actual guitar jangle on the title track.

The rush of the Mersey, meanwhile, reverberates through songs like “She’s Thunderstorms”, while album closer “That’s Where You’re Wrong” twangs of Echo & the Bunnymen and Lloyd Cole. “You’re rarer than a can of dandelion and burdock,” sings Turner, in gleaming kitchen-sink mode, “and those other girls are just Post-Mix lemonade.”

The news that Arctic Monkeys have made a British indie-rock record will probably cheer the two heaving Don Valley Bowls that the band are due to play this weekend. And yet the thrills on Suck It and See are muted – lovelorn, crafted, elegantly played, but somehow unelectrifying. As the Monkeys’ respect for the canon increases, it’s as though we are seeing something vital being sucked out of them. [Guardian.co.uk]

More pictures of Arctic Monkeys at Summerstage after the jump.

PS If you’ve ever seen Arctic Monkeys live, you might be interested in this article from NYMag on how they build their setlists.

Arctic Monkeys at Rumsey Playfield at Central Park by Geoff Green