Backstage Pass

"Get off the bandwagon! Put down the handbook!" Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner chants in "Fake Tales of San Francisco," unveiling the British sensation's success secrets in a handy, easy-to-remember sing-along.

See, it's not that the Arctic Monkeys are doing anything revolutionary on their debut, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" (Domino). We've heard roaring guitars and snarling singers before.

What makes everyone go bananas for the Arctic Monkeys is how they take stock pieces - Smiths jangling, Oasis disdain, Clash-like protest - and assemble them in a way that sounds completely different. For example, their first single, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor," a raucous rocker that hooks you immediately, opens with a guitar solo - a no-no that most record company and radio execs would have removed straight off, no matter how well it works.

Lucky for them (and us), the Arctic Monkeys had already built a massive fan base for the songs on the Internet before they signed their record deal - holding enough sway to keep the unorthodox alt-rock intact. The fuzzed-out "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But ..." bounds between ZZ Top Texas boogie and scratch-guitar funk. The current single "When the Sun Goes Down," the band's second British No. 1, starts out with jazz-lounge guitar before doing an about-face into mysterious dance rock.

Turner's tales of fake-tan girls and bored boys looking for trouble manage to surprise with their intricate details and plot twists, made all the more effective by the band's musical zig-zags. But it's Jamie King's unpredictable guitar work that makes the Arctic Monkeys the stuff of indie-rock dreams, that rare British Next Big Thing that actually lives up to its hype. (Grade: A)