from the nov. 9 ny press:

arctic monkeys
november 15, 8:30

marketed as the greatest thing since otto rohwedder introduced his new "sliced bread" to the good people of chillicothe, missouri, back in 1928, arctic monkeys step stateside for the first time this month, riding a tsunami of british hype. filling the brit-pop void left by the crack-laden demise of the libertines, this sheffield, england, four-piece first stepped on stage in early 2005 and gained a skyrocketing rep following their demo, which was distributed solely via shows and fan-distributed mp3s. to the surprise of the band, by the august 2005 reading and leeds festivals, throngs of fans were singing along to these demo tracks. the hype behind them grew so large that when they released their first single, "i bet you look good on the dance floor" just weeks ago, it entered the u.k. singles chart at no. 1, a feat generally reserved for the likes of the spice girls. now they've signed to domino records and have a "proper full-length" to be released early next year, when the record industry will be left wondering why they continue to be such codgers about the whole mp3 thing.

next week (11.16): a 500-word piece on jeff tweedy