Will Arctic Monkeys turn up heat at Birmingham LG Arena

One time massive Arctic Monkey fan

reveals why they've left her cold of late - ahead of their gig tonight (Friday, November 4, 2011) at Birmingham LG Arena.

When they first burst onto the underground music scene in 2004, Arctic Monkeys were offering something completely new and different.

They were exciting, with addictive guitar riffs, mind-bogglingly fast drumming and an unstoppable stream of sarcastic, witty, and slyly irreverent lyrics which seemed to cascade from frontman Alex Turner's tongue like a waterfall.

Girls, posers, messy nights out, running from coppers and the Bad Side of Town all appeared in a starkly narrative song style for the first time and music critics heralded them as defining the sound of a generation.

Quite what has happened since then is baffling. The Monkeys' latest offering – fourth album Suck It and See – is, by comparison, full of absolute nonsense and smacks of lazy, unimaginative songwriting.

Take, for example, the title of recent single Hellcat Spangled Shalalala, the dull lyrics of Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair or the limping monotony of Brick by Brick.

Aside from the occasional mention of tracksuits, the originality of these Sheffield lads has sadly all but gone.

That's not to say they were always fan-friendly interview pussycats – quite the opposite, to the point where they got a reputation for being surly and difficult.

Arctic Monkeys were the first in a new generation of self-hyped so-called 'MySpace bands'. By playing hundreds of tiny gigs and giving away their music for free over their web page and MySpace, they built up a massive following before music companies had even caught a whiff.

They played their first show in Birmingham in August 2005, when Turner shrugged on-stage and told fans packed into a sold-out Academy 2: "Some people have been saying I'm arrogant. But you guys are singing along to all our songs and we haven't even released a single yet. Wouldn't you be a bit arrogant?"

They've come a long way since then, and play the second city's LG Arena tonight with support from 2011's breakthrough new indie stars The Vaccines.

All four Arctic Monkeys albums have reached the number one spot in the UK – but die-hard fans will have noticed that something happened around album number three, Humbug. While retaining enough character to still be likeable, suddenly the Monkeys had become slower and heavier, a downward trip which seems to have consolidated and smothered all personality in Suck It and See.

Turner's explanation was that they felt the need to demonstrate their ability.

"We all thought we needed to move on – if only to prove that it weren't all about those 12 songs about the chip shop," Turner says.

Personally though, I blame the move to America. And Alexa Chung.

Tickets for tonight's gig are still available for £29.50. Call the box office on 0844 338 8000 or visit www.theticketfactory.com