The chart-topping indie anthem that prompted an ex-member of Depeche Mode to write a letter of complaint

Arctic Monkeys and Alan Wilder — (Image credit: Andy Willsher/Redferns/Getty Images/Jim Dyson/Getty Images))

The 00s were an exciting, shapeshifting time for British indie, a decade in which a new wave of guitar bands were pulling the genre all over the place. But one man was not so appreciative, and that man was ex-Depeche Mode keyboardist Alan Wilder.

The year was 2008, over a decade since Wilder departed Depeche Mode and the world of mainstream music to focus on his experimental project Recoil. He was not happy at the direction the music industry had gone in the meantime and was obviously so miffed about the whole thing that he felt compelled to write a letter to Side-Line Magazine.

First off, he wanted to air his grievances about, erm, sort of everything really. “Why is it the audio quality of music is degenerating?” he said. “Music ‘sounds’ worse. We have stopped listening, we don’t time. We only have time to be smacked in the face by the louder, most attention-grabbing blast of souped-up noise imaginable until ear fatigue steps in.”

Now, Alan – who, it must be said, deserves respect for being the driving creative force behind Enjoy The Silence, not only a Depeche Mode classic but one of the best songs of all time – obviously realised at this point that he needed an example to back up his accusations of this “souped-up noise” ruining his day and it was none other than the chart-topping debut single by Arctic Monkeys that he turned to.

“True excitement comes from variation in rhythm, tone, pitch and a wide range of dyanmics which in turn provides space and warmth – something you’re unlikely to find in much of today’s rock/pop music” he stated. “If you want a good example, listen to the Arctic Monkeys’ I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor for a bombardment of the most unsubtle, one-dimensional noise.”

Whoa, bit harsh Alan! I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor was already an indie disco modern classic by that point, having been released three years prior to Wilder’s letter, in October 2005. Three years in which you imagine Wilder came out in hives every time he heard it.

His problem with Alex Turner & co.’s big breakthrough, he explained in the letter, was that he found it symptomatic of a wider issue in music to do with mastering, that thing that happens at the very end in the process of making a record that no-one really understands.

“In recent years, a revolution in processing technology has instigated a change in the way albums are mastered,” he said. “In order to compete, A&R men, producers, even the artists are demanding that mastering engineers, via digital compression, crank up the level so high that all dynamic range is callously sacrificed.”

Still, bit harsh to single out Arctic Monkeys, especially in a year when All Summer Long by Kid Rock went to Number One. Still, they managed to survive the verbal onslaught. Quite what Alan thought when regular Arctics collaborator James Ford started producing Depeche Mode records, we are yet to know. If you're in the mood for a "bombardment of the most unsubtle, one-dimensional noise", have a listen below:

Artists

Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, Champions Journal, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleague Ted Kessler. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he's interviewed some of the world's biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Radiohead, Liam and Noel Gallagher, Florence + The Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more.

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