No. 16 Arctic Monkeys - Matador/Da Frame 2R

My final Arctic Monkeys 7" single was a limited run (1,000 copies no less) white vinyl, with 2 tracks originally released in Japan but not in the UK, at around the time of Favourite Worst Nightmare. Neither track is exactly a classic; Da Frame 2R sounds like it may be an older song that wouldn't have made it on to Whatever People Say... and Matador is a largely forgettable, largely instrumental offering. Still, Domino did throw in a couple of stickers, which was nice.

I've never warmed to the Arctic Monkeys later offerings to be honest. There seems to have been a law of diminishing returns, that set in pretty rapidly. Perhaps it's hard to write authentically gritty songs about everyday life in South Yorkshire when your living in a Manhattan apartment with your model girlfriend. I'm aware that there is the case made that AM, the most recent album, is a return to form of sorts. but the whole tax avoidance thing has left me feeling distinctly unbothered.

Little known fact; the drummer's dad is a regular at my local Parkrun - I only worked this out because he wears an Arctic Monkeys hat in the colder months.

No. 15 Arctic Monkeys - Leave Before The Lights Come On

Another cracking tune from the Monkeys. This one is more pleasing because it didn't feature on either the first LP or the second. There's always something a little bit special about the one-off single I think. It was also promoted with a decent Sheffield-filmed video, featuring Paddy Considine. 

The b-side is a bit of an oddity though; a one off collaboration between the Monkeys and the 747s (nope, me neither). It's a sixties cover, that hints at the territory Alex Turner would explore with The Last Shadow Puppets.

If I was pressed to make a list of favourite record labels (oh go on then) Domino would certainly feature. Not only have they signed a collection of consistently interesting bands over the years (Clinic, Four Tet, Sebadoh, Elliott Smith, Joh Hopkins off the top of my head) but they've also ploughed profits from bands like Arctic Monkeys into interesting projects with little chance of making much profit; the beautifully put together Triffids reissues spring to mind.

Oh, and it came with a free beer mat, which was nice.

No. 14 Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor

It's hard to believe that this is a now very nearly a decade old. The second Arctic Monkeys single, and the first that was widely available (only 1,500 copies of Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys were pressed) went to number one in the UK singles chart (my last number one single bought on vinyl I think) and is surely one of the best pop songs of the '00s. The a-side is, for me at least, a timeless classic and the b-side, Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts is pretty fine too.

Despite living in Sheffield for the last two decades I've never seen Arctic Monkeys live, and I suspect I never will. I vividly remember the buzz in the city when they first started playing live; fellow gig goers and students at school were raving about them long before the album came out, but we were busy adjusting to being a family with the arrival of the first-born, so I never made it to the legendary Leadmill or Grapes gigs. I could probably pick up a ticket the next time they play some bland enormodome locally, but it very much feels like the moment has passed.

It's also easy to forget, in this increasingly post-MP3 age, that they really broke the mould back in 2004, by allowing demo versions of their earliest material to circulate widely and build their reputation. By the time Domino released this in 2005, most of these songs were pretty familiar. As I recall they were one of the first bands to see this as a way of generating huge amounts of interest. Given all this, there's a lovely irony when Turner drawls "Don't believe the hype" at the start of the cracking video. Enjoy!