Arctic Monkeys burst onto the music scene in 2006 with “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not,” their refreshingly pointy and explosive debut album which became the fastest selling debut album in British history at that time.  Since then, the indie rock band from Sheffield has soared to even greater heights, playing at the Summer Olympics in 2012 and headlining the Glastonbury Festival in 2007 and 2013.

Their new album, AM, debuted at No. 1 in the UK, as did their previous four studio albums, making music history.  So far, it is the second best-selling album of the year, with 157,000 copies sold the first week, only behind Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories.”  AM has been nominated for the Mercury Prize, which Arctic Monkeys won in 2006 for their debut album.

AM has a funkier, more streamlined sound than previous albums, and frontman Alex Turner cites Dr. Dre and R&B as influences.  The band has certainly changed, but none of their changes are missteps: Arctic Monkeys’ sound has only become more sophisticated, and even the crooning falsettos of Matt Helders and Nick O’Malley seem artful.

Frontman Alex Turner’s lyrics are still as sharp as ever, and while the subject material of AM has gone back to the street talk of “Whatever People Say I’m Not, That’s What I Am,” Turner still has the ability to make the vulgar seem poetic.  Songs such as “I Wanna Be Yours” and “Knee Socks” showcase Turner’s hopelessly romantic side.  For instance, on “Knee Socks,” Turner croons, “And I thought you might be mine / In a small world on an exceptionally rainy Tuesday night / In the right place and time,” with the casual air of one who has hundreds more such gems up his sleeve.

While Arctic Monkeys has certainly evolved from the group of cynical, defiant teenagers they were in 2006 to rock stars on top of the world, the band is still the same consistently great band.  Even so, AM has the sound of a transitioning album: nearly perfect, but with the expectation of something even better in the future.  Arctic Monkeys is still growing, but no matter what they do or where they go, we can probably expect another No. 1 album.