Arctic Monkeys review - no rating...

Does England's Arctic Monkeys debut album "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" live up to all the buzz? Yes, and then no. The first half of the album is the best stuff I've heard in a long time, a cranked up Libertines but way better - cheeky, clever, and utterly rocking. Great stuff. Then the band abruptly shifts into more standard Libertines style balladry, which would have been ok I guess but I wanted the party to continue. Not a coincidence the songs were listed separately on the album cover. Maybe someday I'll give part II a fresh unprejudiced listen, but for now only part I made the iPod playlist.