Suck It and See

Arctic Monkeys - Suck It and See
Critic Score
Based on 37 reviews
2011 Ratings: #278 / 1031
User Score
2011 Rank: #333
Liked by 174 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
NME
A stunning new level of intelligent, love-steeped songcraft.
90
No Ripcord

The Arctic Monkeys of 2011 have produced, probably by a significant margin, the best British Rock 'n' Roll album you will hear this year.

85
The 405

I think it’s definitely up there with their best work, showing maturity in both the writing and the musicianship as a whole.

85
Beats Per Minute

Suck It And See is an almost seamless step forward, reaffirming the notion that the band’s shelf life is probably much longer than initially estimated.

83
Paste

You won’t hear buzzwords like “rollicking” or “raucous” being tossed around about this record, but don’t for a second think that means Turner and company have gone soft — on Suck It and See, the Monkeys are evolving.

80
The Guardian

Arctic Monkeys have abandoned lurching darkness for wistful guitar pop. It suits them.

80
The Telegraph

Arctic Monkeys, after an opinion-dividing experimental phase with 2009's Humbug, roar back to melodic life on their fourth album.

80
Slant Magazine

Their latest, Suck It and See, is a long way from Sheffield’s kebab houses and seedy nightclubs, but it intimates that the group is, for all practical purposes, starting to come down from their kaleidoscopic peyote trip.

80
Sputnikmusic
Arctic Monkeys are still a gang of close friends still very much in touch with their roots.
80
Record Collector
Recorded at the famous Sunset Sound Studio in Hollywood, this is a record that screams confidence, sunshine and mostly remains fun
throughout.
80
Consequence of Sound

Suck it and See is a thorough success imbued with the very same spirit, reflecting the boys’ widely expanded palette while successfully working in everything they did so well in their yester-album.

80
Q Magazine

This push 'n' pull between pop and rock, sweet and sour, is a motif throughout but, crucially, Suck It And See also comes with a spacedust kick.

80
SPIN
That poise has served the band quite well — four albums in, and they’ve hit a remarkable mid-career groove that most bands their age will never see.
80
The Irish Times
Alex Turner & co's fourth album is, if not their best, surely their most sure-footed and ambitious.
80
PopMatters

Alex Turner and his bandmates are clearly expanding their abilities and getting better at focusing their fire with every release.

80
musicOMH

This is another intriguing evolution for one of the country's great bands, and a shot in the arm for Britain's rather moribund 'indie guitar' scene.

80
Evening Standard
It's the kind of stylistically varied album that will have listeners choosing a different favourite every day. If Arctic Monkeys are no longer our biggest band, this confirms them as one of our best.
75
Pitchfork

Suck It and See, the Arctics' fourth and most rewarding album so far, is not music to blog to.

70
Gigwise
Although the majority of 'Suck it and See''s subtlety may not be designed for performing live, it sure gets better and better with every listen.
70
Prefix
The band is working towards something, more fragments of which are presented here; and watching them piece together their destiny is fascinating.
70
Rolling Stone
The Monkeys' cheeky verbosity marks them as distinctly British, as does their preference for retro-leaning guitar pop.
70
Alternative Press

[Turner's] newer sound, along with more layered arrangements, lends itself nicely to Arctic Monkeys' take on pop, balladry and stoner rock.

70
AllMusic

Suck It and See may be at the opposite end of the spectrum from Humbug -- it’s concentrated and purposeful where its predecessor sprawled -- yet it still demands attention from the listener, delivering its rewards according to just how much time you’re willing to devote.

70
Drowned in Sound

By the impeccably high standards they've set so far it ranks as a good rather than great album.

67
Entertainment Weekly
It hits hard, but the boyish energy of their early work is still missed.
67
Pretty Much Amazing
This album is a grower. When these lads said “suck it and see”, they meant it.
66
Spectrum Culture

There’s nothing wrong with sticking to your guns (particularly when they’ve had more hits than misses), but there’s nothing particularly ambitious or aspirational about Suck It and See.

60
Clash

‘Suck It And See’ is not a disappointment, because we’ve learned never to expect the Monkeys’ next move, but it’s not half as fun as we’d like it to be.

60
The Independent

The lumpy, somewhat stodgy sound that Josh Homme devised for Arctic Monkeys on 2009's Humbug has been mercifully discarded for Suck It and See, which represents a return of sorts to the pell-mell manner of their earlier albums.

60
The Skinny
There are no apparent potential rivals for I'll Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, but then there's more to Arctic Monkeys than whimsical indie rock soundbites.
60
The Observer

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.

50
Loud and Quiet
It is, ultimately, a nice indie record, and what that leaves us with is something far more distressing – the fact that Artic Monkeys, like the rest of us, are growing old.
50
The Needle Drop
On Arctic Monkeys' latest album, the band drains themselves of adrenaline to play a set of songs that go back in time and try to revive a group of dated sounds.
43
A.V. Club
It’s as if Arctic Monkeys spent so much time sculpting and refining these songs that no one stepped back to realize how slow they turned out.
CLJesse
48

suck my dick and be a better album

BradTasteMusic
65

Alex Turner really shows his hand as a compelling songwriter on SIAS. There is not a whole lot in the way of interesting songs, but a lot of great uninteresting songs.

exception
51

The fatal goodbye kiss to the once enjoyable band that was Arctic Monkeys, as they embark on their quest to become the kings of tumblr.

pyddl
70

There are so many reviews calling this uninteresting, but I would argue against them. The album does envelop a common indie rock sound in terms of song structures and production, but I feel like there's still plenty of pizzazz thrown in all over to make this a distinct listen. The record wants to come and go, and it's fine doing that because it thinks it can still make an impact along the way. There's a sense of direction here that's missing from the group's later releases.

It's still not my ... read more

Auck
90

when i fist heard it i dint really like it but the more i listen it really gets better and better
Favourites: library pictures, black treacle, reckless serenade

60

Not the biggest fan of this album, though still has some good stuff on it.

Favourite song: Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair
Least Favourite Song: Brick by Brick

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#6/NME
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