Suck It and See

Suck It and See is the fourth studio album by English rock band Arctic Monkeys, released on 6 June 2011 by Domino Recording Company. It was produced by the band's longtime collaborator James Ford and was recorded at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, with Ford and drummer Matt Helders promising to deliver a more "instant", "poppy", and "vintage" sound in comparison to the band's darker, polarising previous album Humbug (2009).[6]

For other uses, see Suck It and See (disambiguation).

Suck It and See
Studio album by
Arctic Monkeys
Released6 June 2011 (2011-06-06)
RecordedJanuary–February 2011
StudioSound City, Los Angeles
Genre
Length40:04
LabelDomino
ProducerJames Ford
Arctic Monkeys chronology
Humbug
(2009)		 Suck It and See
(2011)		 AM
(2013)
Singles from Suck It and See
  1. "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair"
    Released: 12 May 2011
  2. "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala"
    Released: 15 August 2011
  3. "Suck It and See"
    Released: 31 October 2011
  4. "Black Treacle"
    Released: 23 January 2012[5]

Recording and production

Arctic Monkeys wrote the album throughout 2010, with Alex Turner writing the majority of the songs in New York, and the rest in London. Rather than repeat the heavily produced, studio production style, and darker sound of Humbug, the band's previous effort, much of the album was recorded in live takes with minimal overdubs, with producer James Ford in Los Angeles, California, over five weeks in January–February 2011. Alex Turner has commented that rather than going into the studio with only rough sketches of songs, and making heavy use of overdubbing, the band focused much of their time rehearsing written songs together, coming up with new ideas in the process.

The band settled on Suck It and See as the title after debating between titles such as The Rain-Shaped Shimmer Trap, The Thunder-Suckle Fuzz Canyon, The Blond-O-Sonic Rape Alarm, and Thriller, according to a band interview in the NME.[7]

The track "Piledriver Waltz" was first released on Alex Turner's debut EP, Submarine, where it was credited to Turner as a solo artist, featuring Ford on drums.[8] The version included on Suck It and See is a re-recording with the whole band involved.

Promotion

A music video for "Brick by Brick" was released shortly before the album details were revealed on 10 March. However, Matt Helders confirmed that "Brick by Brick" wouldn't be the lead single.[9]

On 5 May 2011, Arctic Monkeys began the Suck It and See Tour by playing their first live show in over a year in Stockholm.

On 13 May, Arctic Monkeys appeared on Later... with Jools Holland and performed four tracks from the album: "Library Pictures", "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair", "Reckless Serenade" and "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala".

Singles

Four singles were released to promote the album. The lead single, "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair", was released digitally on 12 April 2011, and on 16 April three thousand 7" vinyl copies were released worldwide by the band as part of Record Store Day, backed with "Brick by Brick".[10] It was given a wider release on 30 May 2011, available on 10" vinyl and digital download with backed with "The Blond-O-Sonic Shimmer Trap" and "I.D.S.T.", and on 7" vinyl, backed with "I.D.S.T.".[11]

The second single taken from the album, "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala", was released on 15 August 2011, backed with a new Death Ramps track featuring Miles Kane, "Little Illusion Machine (Wirral Riddler)". On 31 October 2011, the title track "Suck It and See" was released as the third single, backed with a new song, Evil Twin. The fourth and final single, "Black Treacle", was released on 23 January 2012, backed with a second new Death Ramps song, "You & I", featuring Richard Hawley.

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.2/10[12]
Metacritic74/100[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
The A.V. ClubC−[15]
The Daily Telegraph[16]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[17]
The Guardian[1]
NME9/10[18]
Pitchfork7.5/10[19]
Q[20]
Rolling Stone[2]
Spin8/10[21]

Suck It and See received positive reviews from critics, with an average 74% rating at Metacritic based on 32 critics.[13] The album has also been successful commercially. In its first week of release, the album debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, selling over 82,000 units[22] and knocking Lady Gaga's Born This Way off the top spot. In its second week, the album sold a further 34,910 units in the UK. Overall, the album sold 154,000 units in its first week worldwide. NME named the album cover, an artwork free cream monochrome after the styling of The Beatles' White Album, as one of the worst in history.[23] In July, the album won Mojo award for the Best Album of 2011. Mojo placed the album at number 39 on its list of "Top 50 albums of 2011."[24] On 30 May, a week before official release, Domino Records streamed the entire album on SoundCloud.[25] Within a few hours of being made public, the first two tracks had reached over 10,000 listens each, and by the end of the week, each had accrued over 100,000 plays.

Censorship

In the United States the title on the cover sleeve was covered by a sticker in certain big-box retailers. In an interview with British radio station XFM, lead singer Alex Turner said, "They think it is rude, disrespectful and they're putting a sticker over it in America in certain stores, big ones."[26] The English idiom "suck it and see" means that something must be tried first, appearing, for example, in a 2010 The Economist headline[27] and (as "suck 'em and see") in the advertising slogan of Fisherman's Friend lozenges.[28]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alex Turner, except where noted[29].

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."She's Thunderstorms" 3:54
2."Black Treacle" 3:35
3."Brick by Brick"Turner, Matt Helders2:59
4."The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala" 3:00
5."Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair" 3:03
6."Library Pictures" 2:22
7."All My Own Stunts" 3:52
8."Reckless Serenade" 2:42
9."Piledriver Waltz" 3:23
10."Love Is a Laserquest" 3:11
11."Suck It and See" 3:45
12."That's Where You're Wrong" 4:16
Total length:40:04
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."The Blond-O-Sonic Shimmer Trap"3:28
Total length:43:37

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.[30]

Arctic Monkeys

Additional musicians

  • Josh Homme – backing vocals on "All My Own Stunts"

Technical

  • James Ford – production
  • James Brown – engineering
  • Sean Oakley – engineering assistance
  • David Covell – engineering assistance
  • Craig Silvey – mixing
  • Morgan Stratton – mixing assistance
  • Bryan Wilson – mixing assistance
  • George Marino – mastering

Artwork

  • Matthew Cooper – art direction, design
  • Jason Evans – art direction, design
  • Aaron Brown – photography

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[65] Platinum 333,000[66]

References
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  2. Rosen, Jody (7 June 2011). "Suck It And See". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  3. Empire, Kitty (5 June 2011). "Arctic Monkeys: Suck It And See – review". The Observer. London: The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  4. Williams, Mike (6 April 2011). "Arctic Monkeys And The Best 'Return To Form' Albums Ever". NME. Retrieved 7 May 2018. eschewed in favour of quick-rattle British psych-pop, the next step on their seemingly endless evolution.
  5. "Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner: 'I'm getting into country music'". Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  6. "Arctic Monkeys: Suck It And See' is more poppy than 'Humbug". NME.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
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  8. BBC – Music – Review of Alex Turner – Submarine EP
  9. "Arctic Monkeys – "Brick by Brick" Surprise new song". Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  10. "Arctic Monkeys Announce First Single From 'Suck It And See'". Gigwise. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  11. "Arctic Monkeys Announce New Single..." Archived from the original on 4 April 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  12. "Suck It & See by Arctic Monkeys reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  13. "Reviews for Suck It and See by Arctic Monkeys". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  14. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Suck It and See – Arctic Monkeys". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  15. Rytlewski, Evan (7 June 2011). "Arctic Monkeys: Suck It And See". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  16. Perry, Andrew (2 June 2011). "Arctic Monkeys: Suck It and See, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  17. Anderson, Kyle; Wood, Mikael; Wete, Brad (27 May 2011). "Albums: June 3, 2011". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
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