ACL Music Fest Live Shots

Arctic Monkeys

Given that their 2007 sophomore effort, Favourite Worst Nightmare, improves on last year's celebrated debut, it's no longer feasible to dismiss the Arctic Monkeys as a flash in the power-pop pan. The Sheffield-bred quartet's main-stage ACL set drove home that notion with slippery, dynamic aplomb. Aside from being nut-tight musically, the Monkeys are masters of the quick left turn, liberally peppering their elegant post-punk contagions with jags and juts to keep the brain pricked up. Beginning with the tribal-thumping frenzy of "Brainstorm," the band sent energy levels skyward despite the sun's stubborn refusal to retreat below the tree line. Guitarist/composer/vocalist Alex Turner was a man of few words between songs, but there isn't much else to say when you come armed with a fusillade that includes "Florescent Adolescent," "Fake Tales of San Francisco," and "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor." The crowd behind the soundboard started to disperse after the latter, but the thousands up front kept cheering ecstatically as the band checked out with "A Certain Romance."