Media Studies - Personal Identity (David Gauntlet) - Music Genres and Youth

The Arctic Monkeys are an English Rock band created in the early 2000's, but have found a surge in popularity in the last 2 years, and especially in 2022 with their songs being used as "Sounds" on the social media app TikTok. 

The music they create has often been said to have a certain "aesthetic" that forms a masculine and attractive aura. Through videos posted on TikTok that use their music, people who listen to the Arctic Monkeys are often described to be cool, mysterious, and attractive. This is largely due to the face/main-man of the band, Alex Turner, who is the bands main singer and guitarist. The bands most famous and recognizable song "Do I Wanna Know" has captivated the entire generation and has completely changed the way most people see guitarist and musicians. As previously mentioned, "Do I Wanna Know", and more specifically the opening guitar riff, has been associated with allure, mystery, glamour, and charm.

The youth are currently being heavily influenced by the music and aesthetic of Alex Turner, the Arctic monkeys and the music they produce as the standards for men, masculinity, and what is seen as attractive, is being changed by the second with the enchanting music they produce.

This picture of Alex Turner/The Arctic Monkeys at one of their shows visualizes and represents the main focus of the zeitgeist following the band, the messy hair, the guitar, the half buttoned up shirt, all incorporate what young people these days find so attractive in men.

This Cover of an edition of Icon Magazine, published by Grande Parade LTD, featuring Alex Turner further constructs the idea of "modern masculinity". As we can see, in the picture, Turner is not shown as ripped, fit, or with pumped muscles, but still would be considered the definition of attractiveness for most youths today. The preferred reading of this would be that Turner is mysterious, attractive, charming, cool, and that the audience wants to be like him. The oppositional reading however would suggest that he looks like a homeless person, he's a twig, he doesn't have any masculine characteristics whatsoever, and that he looks like a loser. In the middle, the negotiated reading would suggest he seems cold, not masculine, but still attractive, and that he looks "detached".