There is this huge indie rock band that many Americans have never heard of, myself included. This band hails from Sheffield, England. It’s home to many notorious acts such as The Human League and Def Leppard. This band is called the Arctic Monkeys.

So, Who the F*** Are Arctic Monkeys?, says the name of their second EP released in 2006. This band is led by master guitarist, Alex Turner. He’s lean, mean and looks like he could have been a greaser in the 1950s. Their sound has elements that feel like it’s stuck between the years of 2001 and 2003, in a time span when The Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had excellent debut albums.

“Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” is their debut from 2006. It debuted No.1 in the U.K. and became the fastest selling album in British history with over 360,000 copies sold in the first week, and is still the fastest selling album by a band in the U.K.

It’s currently No.371 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Their following four critically acclaimed albums “Favourite Worst Nightmare,” “Humbug, Suck It,” “See,” and “AM” broke a record, all debuting at No.1 in their opening sales week. They became the first band under an independent label to have five straight No.1 albums.

All this seems to have spread everywhere, except here in America. However, toward the end of the summer, their debut single “Do I Wanna Know?” off of their new album “AM” started gaining traction in U.S. alternative radio. It’s also the beginning of a new direction for the rest of the tracks on the album. For example, “Knee Socks” has a bit of funkadelic in it, but not too retro.

If you’re new to the Arctic Monkeys then it might not be a bad idea to start with their earlier work, despite hearing their hit single on radio. It’s going to be interesting what sound they veer into for their next album. Don’t be surprised if they don’t change it up. If it’s not broke why fix it, right?