Monster (The Automatic song)

"Monster"
Single by The Automatic
from the album Not Accepted Anywhere
B-side "Night Drive"
"High Tide On Caroline Street"
Released 5 June 2006
Format 7", CD, CD (maxi)
Recorded Stir Studio, Cardiff
Genre Post-punk revival, alternative rock
Length 3:41 (UK)
Label B-Unique Records[1] Polydor Records[2]
Writer(s) James Frost
Iwan Griffiths
Robin Hawkins
Alex Pennie
The Automatic singles chronology
"Raoul"
(2006)		 "Monster"
(2006)		 "Recover" (re-release)
(2006)
USA/Canada Releases chronology
"Monster"
(2007)		 "Steve McQueen"
(2008)

"Monster: is the third UK single by Cardiff-based band The Automatic, taken from their debut album Not Accepted Anywhere. The track was released on 5 June 2006 in the UK and subsequently reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart. It was released in the United States under the alias of The Automatic Automatic on 14 May 2007. It is The Automatic's highest charting single to date in the United Kingdom.[3][4]

Composition

The track's music was composed by James Frost and Robin Hawkins, with the original incarnation featuring a different chorus, both musically and lyrically. However the band decided first to change the music before deciding to re-write the chorus's lyrics. The chorus was planned to have a fairytale-esque theme to it, with keyboardist and vocalist Alex Pennie penning the idea which would become the track's famous lyric "What's that coming over the hill? Is it a monster? Is it a monster?". Originally however the lyric was used just to fill the chorus until a more suitable lyric was found, but over time the lyric stuck and so was eventually used when the band recorded a demo of it in 2005.[5]

Many of the lyrics used in "Monster" are metaphors for drug and drink intoxication; "brain fried tonight through misuse" and "without these pills you're let loose", with the chorus 'monster' lyric being a metaphor for the monster that comes out when people are intoxicated.[6]

The original demo of "Monster" featured more prominent synthesizers, with some different vocals, including more gang vocals during the chorus, and distorted backing vocals during the verses and bridge, the guitar, bass and drums however stayed relatively the same when in late 2005 they rerecorded the track for their album Not Accepted Anywhere. With the line-up change in 2007, seeing Paul Mullen join, Monster was reworked, with Paul providing a second guitar part, with almost all synthesizer parts removed, in addition a new section was added to the bridge of Monster, featuring a riff from Paul Mullen's band Yourcodenameis:milo track "All Roads to Fault".

Release

A demo of the track was released in early 2005. The single release of "Monster" was announced in April 2006, the single would precede the band's debut album, which was also announced Not Accepted Anywhere. The single was released on 5 June 2006 on vinyl, CD and through digital download, the various single formats featured various remixes of "Monster" and the b-side from recording Not Accepted Anywhere "Night Drive" which has rarely been performed live. The release of Monster was celebrated by a performance in Cardiff HMV on 5 June, with a series of HMV and Fopp instore performances over the following days. The American release of Monster came almost a year later on 14 May 2007; it was the band's only American single to-date, with their at the time American distributor Columbia Records not picking the band up in 2008 with Steve McQueen due to the record agreement between the bands main at-the-time label B-Unique Records, Polydor Records and subsequently Columbia Records.

The track has been featured on video games Lego Rock Band,[7] Kinect Sports and FIFA 08;[8] films Igor[9] and Slither;[10] and TV series Torchwood,[11] Doctor Who Confidential,[12] Primeval,[13] Hollyoaks, Le Grand Journal, Tittybangbang, Sinchronicity, Bones[14] Serious Ocean[15] and James May's Toy Stories.

Monster has been widely used on various compilation albums including Ultimate Pop Party, The Anthems, Now Thats What I Call Music!: 64, Top Gear: Sub Zero Driving Anthems, Xbox Presents: Start, NME Presents the Essential Bands 2006, 41 Crowd Pleasing Classics, Rock Hits Workout, Smashed, while on The Automatic's own releases it has been featured as a remix on the 2007 "Raoul" single and the United States released EP So Nice Say it Twice[16]

Universal Music Polska released "Monster" on 29 March 2011.[17]

Music video

The music video was produced and directed by Dominic Thompson-Talbot[18] of production company Up the Resolution, who would go onto work with the band on their next singles "Raoul" and "Recover". The shoot took place in Black Park, London in 2006 and features Hadleigh Lomasney as 'big-foot'.[19]

The video features the band playing monster hunters in false beards and hiking gear. They travel in an old van draped with camouflage and newspaper articles that refer to monsters, UFOs and Nessie, and James Frost plays his guitar solo standing on top of the van. The characters encounter Nessie and Big Foot but remain oblivious to their finds; when they return to the van they are surrounded by monsters who are destroyed by a UFO, which then zaps the band as they exit the van.[20][21]

Critical reception

To date, the band have not had a bigger hit from either Not Accepted Anywhere or This Is A Fix, the closest to reaching "Monster" was 2008 single "Steve McQueen" which charted at #16 in the UK charts, considerably lower than predicted, however this was due to several mistakes made by the band's label, who took an extra week to digitally release the track "Steve McQueen". Half of the band in 2005 believed that Not Accepted Anywhere track "Rats" would end up being a bigger hit than "Monster".[5]
"We wrote a song, it did really well, I don't really see what there is to be upset about. You get labelled "one hit wonders", but that's more hits than most people have. And it's not like we've disappeared without a trace. We've got a second album coming out, which in my opinion is full of much better songs. We wouldn't have been in a position to fly to LA to make a record if it wasn't for 'Monster'."

— Robin Hawkins

The track has received fairly mixed reviews, Dom Gourlay of Contact Music slated the pop track calling it "daft, irresponsible and unforgettably irritating"[22] whilst Stephen Ackroyd of Click Music rated the track music higher, giving it 4/5.[23] Drowned In Sound's Rachel Cawley gave the track 0 out of 10, attacking fans of the track saying; "If it was you who requested this to be played on the radio, you have my sympathy. Are you so stupefied that you find this ditchwater enthralling?"[24] MusicOHM's Ryan Thomas reacted to the track far more positively, saying "Monster is an electrifying 3 minutes and 44 seconds of pop music at its finest"[25] NME also praised the track "it’s the catchiest indie hit of the summer, boasting a hook that could disembowel a whale"[26] Gigwise.com however was not as positive, referring to previous singles "Recover" and "Raoul" saying "The Automatic's releases are getting progressively worse each time. Are they running out of good songs?"[27]

Chart performance & sales

The track spent 16 weeks in the UK singles chart originally, with its highest charting position at number 4. In 2007 when digital tracks began being counted in the UK Singles Chart Monster re-entered the singles chart once more, at 34. With the self release of third album Tear the Signs Down in 2010, the band revealed that Monster's success bought in a constant revenue to the band.[28]

Track listing

vinyl
No. Title Length
1. "Monster"   3:38
2. "Monster (Trey Prefontaine Mix)"    
CD single
No. Title Length
1. "Monster"   3:38
2. "Night Drive"    
CD (maxi)
No. Title Length
1. "Monster"   3:38
2. "High Tide On Caroline Street"    
3. "Monster (Culprit One Remix)"    
4. "Monster (music video)"    
7digital exclusive
No. Title Length
1. "Monster (Zombie Dogs Remix)"    
2. "Monster (Electro House Mix)"    
USA release single
No. Title Length
1. "Monster"   3:38
2. "Monster (Rock remix)"    

External links

References

  1. ↑ "b*unique recordings - Artists - The Automatic". B-Unique Records Wales. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  2. ↑ "Polydor - Artists - The Automatic". Polydor Records. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  3. ↑ "Columbia Records Announces the Stateside Release of 'Not Accepted Anywhere,' the Acclaimed Debut Album From Emerging UK Band, The Automatic Automatic". prnewswire.com. 20 March 20072006. Retrieved 31 May 2008. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ↑ "The Automatic Automatic - Monster". iTunes USA Store. 24 April 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Automatic in session on BBC Radio Wales, 10 December 2009, Alan Thompson - The Evening Show Automatic - Run And Hide BBC, The Evening Show
  6. ↑ The Automatic Rob Hawkins, James Frost, Alex Pennie, Iwan Griffiths music-news.com, 20 July 2006
  7. ↑ "Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and MTV Games Announce LEGO Rock Band Full Track List". BusinessWire.com. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  8. ↑ EA Sports FIFA 08 Music Soundtrack sets the stage for International Football Glory team xbox, news, 11 September 2007
  9. ↑ Igor, written by Chris McKenna, released 19 September 2008, Track of the Day, Steve McQueen Qthemusic.com, track of the day, 30 July 2008
  10. ↑ Slither official website, written & directed by James Gunn, released 31 March 2006
  11. ↑ Torchwood, episode 06, series 01, BBC, "Countrycide" 19 November 2006
  12. ↑ Doctor Who Confidential, "The Fright Stuff", series 2, 2006, episode 26, broadcast 24 June 2006
  13. ↑ Episode 1 Primeval, 10 February 2007
  14. ↑ Bones S03E04 "Mummy in the Maze" Season 3 broadcast 30 October 2007, written by Scott Williams, directed by Marita Grabiak
  15. ↑ Serious: Serious Ocean, 2008–2009, CBBC, BBC
  16. ↑ So Nice Say it Twice Yahoo music, The Automatic, So Nice Say It Twice, Columbia/B-unique, 2007
  17. ↑ The Automatic - Monster deezer.com, 29 March 2011
  18. ↑ The Automatic "Monster" Directed by Dom Thompson-Talbot Dominic Thompson-Talbot, vimeo, 15 April 2009
  19. ↑ "Up The Resolution - Monster". Up The Resolution. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  20. ↑ "The Automatic - Making of Monster". Youtube/Popworld. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  21. ↑ "The Automatic - Music Video - Monster". The Automatic/interoutemediaservices.com. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  22. ↑ "The Automatic - Monster". Contact Music (Don Gourlay). June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  23. ↑ "The Automatic - Monster". clickmusic (Stephen Ackroyd). June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  24. ↑ "The Automatic - Monster". Drowned In Sound (Rachel Cawley). June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  25. ↑ "The Automatic - Monster (B-Unique)". musicOHM. June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  26. ↑ "The Automatic - Not Accepted Anywhere". NME (Dan Martin). June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  27. ↑ "The Automatic - Monster". Gigwise. June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  28. ↑ "Wales Music, The Automatic, Monster, B-Unique". BBC Wales. 5 June 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2007.