They turned to Vox Studios for their first ever dabble with drum machines, namely vintage Thomas Bandmaster and Selmer models. But they can tell it’s us.”įrom equipment to technique, the drum and percussion tracks on AM exemplify the Monkeys’ era of innovation. “Does it sound too much like Dr Dre or something? Then you play it to someone and they wouldn’t even pick up on that. “With this new one, we were asking, have we gone too far?” Turner confided in Uncut. The upshot was an out-of-character hip-hop influence that caused the band not a little anxiety. Bass and drums were recorded first, with all other parts built around this rhythmic crux.
Verging from the garage virility of the band’s earlier days, AM was above all concerned with rhythm. Perhaps most interesting of all was a Donald Duck plastic fan in place of an Ebow. Inclusion of atypical instrumentation was part and parcel of the Monkeys’ experimentation, ranging from classic drum machines to a guitaret to a synths. So, how exactly did AM stun the critics and masses alike? In appreciation, we examine a few of the production innovations that lent the album its particular magnetism. Months and months of recording were then followed by tracking sessions at Rancho de La Luna in Joshua Tree, California (where the band had experienced a spiritual and musical awakening during the recording of 2009’s Humbug), a process that was arguably more integral to the album’s sound than even the writing itself. Taking the process into the 21st century, Ford later cultivated these demo loops on good old Ableton Live. According to drummer Matt Helders, its “crap-quality electronics” allowed for unique warmth of sound not found in digital alternatives.
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