Monkeys break records

The Arctic Monkeys' debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, looks like becoming the fastest-selling debut album in recorded chart history. It sold more than 120,000 on its first day, more than the debut efforts from Kaiser Chiefs, Coldplay and Franz Ferdinand sold in their first week. This success comes on the back of two number 1 singles, and 2006 could well be a massive year for them.

Wth expected album sales over 350,000 copies by the end of the week, they would break Hear'Say's five-year-old record. How the hell did Hear'Say even get to set such a record? Do people still talk about that album? Can anyone even name it? What kind of society do we live in where television exposure, and no proven track record means massive record sales? Can we therefore expect to see a re-release of Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Right Round", on the back of Pete Burns Big Brother experience?

Earlier yesterday, the band picked up four nominations at next month's NME Awards, including best British band, new band, live band and best track.