ARCTIC MONKEYS – Debut Album ‘EVERYTHING YOU SAY I AM, THAT’S WHAT I’M NOT’ Is 20 Today
Significant longplayers from yesteryear
23 January 2026
British rock prodigies ARCTIC MONKEYS started their career in grand style with
their debut album WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM, THAT’S WHAT I’M NOT.
It catapulted them immediately into indie rock stardom.
That was long before frontman/songwriter/guitarist Alex Turner came up with
his posh Elvis persona and became a crooner, and obviously wants to be the next
Nick Cave.
The album’s title was taken from a line in the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, written by Alan Sillitoe. The name was chosen after Turner recognised similarities between the two works and the appropriateness of the title.
Turner: “It’s good because the book is called Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and
that’s kind of what the album is, so there’s a link there. And also, there’s a lot of people
saying a lot of things about us and you don’t have control over it.”
The album’s cover is a black-and-white photograph of Chris McClure – a close friend
of the band who was the lead singer for The Violet May and the brother of Reverend
and The Makers lead singer Jon McClure, which was taken in the early hours of a morning
at the Korova bar in Liverpool. The band had given him, his cousin, and his best friend £70 to spend on a night out.
NME said: “Our Generation’s Most Important Band. Alex Turner’s lyrics and depiction of Sheffield, and the night lives of teenagers in particular, make him a master of observation.”
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