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Monster (The Automatic song)

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"Monster"
Single by the Automatic
from the album Not Accepted Anywhere
B-side
  • "Night Drive"
  • "High Tide on Caroline Street"
Released5 June 2006
RecordedStir (Cardiff, Wales)
Genre
Length3:41
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Richard Jackson
The Automatic singles chronology
"Raoul"
(2006) 		"Monster"
(2006) 		"Recover (re-release)"
(2006)
US/Canada chronology singles chronology
"Monster"
(2007) 		"Steve McQueen"
(2008)

"Monster" is the third UK single by Cardiff-based Welsh 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 No. 4 on 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

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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 rewrite 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

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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[7] as vinyl, CD, and digital formats featuring 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 band's main at-the-time label B-Unique Records, Polydor Records and subsequently Columbia Records. Universal Music Polska released "Monster" on 29 March 2011.[8]

Critical reception

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"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 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 No. 16 on 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]

The track has received fairly mixed reviews, Dom Gourlay of Contact Music slated the pop track calling it "daft, irresponsible and unforgettably irritating"[9] whilst Stephen Ackroyd of Click Music rated the track music higher, giving it 4/5.[10] 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?"[11] 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"[12] NME also praised the track "it's the catchiest indie hit of the summer, boasting a hook that could disembowel a whale"[13] 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?"[14]

Chart performance

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The track spent 16 weeks on the UK Singles Chart originally, with its highest charting position at No. 4. In 2007, when digital tracks began being counted in the UK Singles Chart, Monster re-entered the singles chart once more, at No. 34. With the self-release of third album Tear the Signs Down in 2010, the band revealed that Monster's success brought in a constant revenue to the band.[15]

Music video

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The music video was produced and directed by Dominic Thompson-Talbot[16] of production company Up the Resolution, who would go on to 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'.[17]

The video features the band playing monster hunters in false beards and hiking gear. They travel in an old ambulance 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 ambulance. The characters encounter Nessie and Big Foot but remain oblivious to their finds; when they return to the ambulance they are surrounded by monsters who are destroyed by a UFO, which then zaps the band as they exit the ambulance.[18][19]

Track listings

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UK limited-edition 7-inch single[20]
No.TitleLength
1."Monster"3:38
2."Monster" (Trey Prefontaine Mmix) 
UK CD single[21]
No.TitleLength
1."Monster"3:38
2."Night Drive" 
UK and Australian CD single[22][23]
No.TitleLength
1."Monster"3:38
2."High Tide on Caroline Street" 
3."Monster" (Culprit One remix) 
4."Monster" (video) 

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[33] Gold 400,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "b*unique recordings – Artists – The Automatic". B-Unique Records Wales. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. 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 July 2006. Archived from the original on 19 July 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  4. ^ "The Automatic Automatic - Monster". iTunes USA Store. 24 April 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2008.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ a b 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. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 3 June 2006. p. 27.
  8. ^ The Automatic - Monster[permanent dead link] deezer.com, 29 March 2011
  9. ^ "The Automatic - Monster". Contact Music (Don Gourlay). June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  10. ^ "The Automatic - Monster". clickmusic (Stephen Ackroyd). June 2006. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  11. ^ "The Automatic - Monster". Drowned in Sound (Rachel Cawley). June 2006. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  12. ^ "The Automatic - Monster (B-Unique)". musicOHM. June 2006. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  13. ^ "The Automatic - Not Accepted Anywhere". NME (Dan Martin). June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  14. ^ "The Automatic - Monster". Gigwise. June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  15. ^ "Wales Music, The Automatic, Monster, B-Unique". BBC Wales. 5 June 2006. Archived from the original on 19 July 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  16. ^ The Automatic "Monster" Directed by Dom Thompson-Talbot Archived 9 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine Dominic Thompson-Talbot, vimeo, 15 April 2009
  17. ^ "Up The Resolution - Monster". Up The Resolution. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  18. ^ "The Automatic - Making of Monster". Youtube/Popworld. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2008.[dead YouTube link]
  19. ^ "The Automatic - Music Video - Monster". The Automatic/interoutemediaservices.com. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2008.[permanent dead link]
  20. ^ Monster (UK limited 7-inch single sleeve). The Automatic. B-Unique Records. 2006. BUN106-7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ^ Monster (UK CD single liner notes). The Automatic. B-Unique Records. 2006. BUN106-CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. ^ Monster (UK CD single liner notes). The Automatic. B-Unique Records. 2006. BUN106-CDX.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ^ Monster (Australian CD single liner notes). The Automatic. Universal Music Australia. 2006. 985 957-6.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. ^ David Kent (2010). Australian Chart Book 1993 – 2009. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 978-0-646-52995-0.
  25. ^ "ARIA Report: Issue 875" (PDF). ARIA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  26. ^ "The Automatic – Monster" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  27. ^ "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 25. 24 June 2006. p. 77. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  28. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Automatic". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  29. ^ "The Automatic – Monster" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  30. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  31. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  32. ^ "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2006". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  33. ^ "British single certifications – Automatic – Monster". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
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