After all those government dollars spent trying to breaking British music in the States is was obvious they'd be watching how their newly crowned kings, the Arctic Monkeys, are being embraced over here.

As the BBC reported yesterday, they ain't. "US reluctant to heed Monkeys hype" goes the headline. The article collects all the bad things said about the band from these articles:

• Oakland Tribune: "THAT'S IT? ... None of the tunes were memorable and the hooks weren't strong enough to catch a goldfish. The performance was sloppy in spots and there were some technical difficulties. I'd like to believe that it was an off-night for the band, but I have no evidence to support that hypothesis."
• Variety: They "have a long way to go. ... But with so many quick to compare the Arctic Monkeys to the Stones, Kinks, Who and other classic British bands, it's worth remembering that one thing that set those bands apart from the Pretty Things, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel and nameless other acts who arrived in the States on a wave of press hype was that they were as brilliant onstage as in the studio."
• The Hollywood Reporter: The show was "not the messianic exercise it was impossibly built up to be" - but still "felt like the real thing."
• The Miami Herald on the band's SNL performances: "The teen rockers revealed a lack of seasoning."

(In all fairness, the Monkey's SNL performance wasn't as ridiculed as that by emo stars Fall Out Boy, which has sold over two million albums in this country.)

Back at home, The Telegraph sees it differently. "America goes ape for the Monkeys," announces the headline. Down in the article it calls the band's 55-minute set "pretty much the one they've perfected over the past few months."

If the live act has perfected, the band is truly in trouble. Coolfer caught the Monkey's first NYC show and thought it was great, but also felt they have a long, long way to go and do have the potential to get there.

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