Alex Turner doesn’t sing some of the early Arctic Monkeys songs live as they are ”too specific, lyrically.”
The group are on tour in the US with The Black Keys and the singer and guitarist admits some of the bands’ earlier material – largely about growing up in the Northern English town of Sheffield – doesn’t feel right to play anymore.
He told Rolling Stone magazine: ”The songs we play off the earlier records – ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor’, ‘Crying Lightning’ – are the ones that have grown and got beards now.
”Some songs seem to have legs and some don’t. Some songs are too specific, lyrically I suppose, and I have a hard time putting myself in those shoes to be able to perform it.”
Alex added that for the first time ever he’s planning to start writing new material while he’s on tour with the group.
He said: ”I might try to this time, just for a change. Usually, I get home and I realise it’s bad, so I’ve not done it in the past.
”We’ve messed around in sound checks, but I’m not gonna meet a deadline, and it’s not like I need to write, though I want a head start for the next time around.”