Arctic Monkeys

A reader asks if Arctic Monkeys is "too Bowie for me." I admit I took that as a challenge. Anonymous may as well have asked if my hot sauce was too habañero for me, in which case I would choke down capsiacin until my nose bled and say that it was almost right--bring on the dancing jalapeños and call me Scoville. Because that's the mature kind of guy I am.

Not surprisingly, I really like Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. The lead vocalist, Alex Turner, sounds like Bowie. But for me, this band lights up the same synapses as the White Stripes with their theatricality and their strutting, rock-out-with-your-c@*k-out guitar assault.

Bowie and Jack White -- is that possible? Hmm. Bowie comes from Iggy Pop who comes from Detroit. So the Arctic Monkeys and the White Stripes are cousins, grandchildren of Iggy, right? I mean, no one rocks out with his c@*k out like Iggy.

With this fantasy geneaology in mind, I checked out Allmusic. I was disappointed -- no mention of Bowie or Iggy among their influences. But wait! Turner and Jamie Cook memorized songs by the White Stripes before they formed the band.

So, are they "too Bowie"? Nope. They're Bowie enough for me, and more. Three thumbs up.