Arctic Monkeys Announce New Album

They've already cranked out two albums' worth of snarly, bratty, ridiculously fun post-Britpop, and now the Arctic Monkeys have their third album loaded up and ready to go. This time, though, things are looking a bit different.

Domino will release the new Arctic Monkeys album on August 24 in the UK and August 25 in the U.S. The album doesn't have a title yet, but the tracklist is below.

The Sheffield band recruited two producers for the new LP. One of those is a familiar face: Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford, who co-produced the band's moderately rougher second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare. But the other producer screams "new direction": Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, who worked with the band in his Mojave Desert studio.

So yeah: They went out to the desert with Homme, and their new press photo prominently features long hair and a Sabbath shirt. Something tells me the Arctic Monkeys might indulge some stoner-rock ambitions on this new one. (And if "Fire and the Thud" isn't a stoner-rock song title, I don't know what is.) Given that the band's first two albums gained much of their power from their punchy, straight-ahead energy, it's anyone's guess how things will turn out once prodigious fuzz finds its way into the mix.

Tracklist:

01 My Propeller
02 Crying Lightning
03 Dangerous Animals
04 Secret Door
05 Potion Approaching
06 Fire and the Thud
07 Cornerstone
08 Dance Little Liar
09 Pretty Visitors
10 The Jeweller's Hands