Yesterday I treated myself to a couple of CDs – Funeral by Arcade Fire which was many people’s choice of the album of 2005, and the Arctic Monkeys’ mouthful Whatever You Say I Am Thats What I’m Not, which some are already claiming is going to be the best album of 2006.

I jumbled them both together on the iRiver in one playlist and listened to them on the way to work and back today. I know it means I haven’t listened to either album properly from beginning to end, but I have heard all the tracks now.

First impressions are that I like them both.

The Arctic Monkeys do live up to some of the hype. All the tracks are immediately accessible and the lyrics are interesting. Lots of comparisons have been drawn to Mike Skinner, but lyrically I think they have the same quality as Pulp or David Byrne in that they have ways of phrasing things which are just appealing – just off-kilter enough to catch your attention. Musically its good enough, but not too different from Franz Ferdinand or plenty of other current and past bands: its the lyrics which make it stand out.

And the song titles. With titles like ‘Red light indicates doors are secured’, or ‘Perhaps vampires is a bit strong but..’ or ‘You probably couldn’t see for the lights but you were lookin’ its the best set of song titles I have seen since the last Bloodhound Gang or Ozric Tentacles albums.

Surely its a bit early in the year to be calling something the best album of 2006 or deciding its one of the best 100 albums of all time, as a recent poll did? I’ll reserve judgement on that, but I do think its an outstanding debut album from the Arctic Monkeys, right up there with Gang of Four’s Entertainment, Elastica, the Manic Street Preachers’ Motorcycle Emptiness, Franz Ferdinand and the Killers’ Hot Fuss in the list of brilliant first albums. The question is whether they will be one of those bands who peak with their first album.

The Arcade Fire is probably more rewarding. It has more variety and more depth musically. I’ve seen them on TV and they seem like a chaotic bunch but although not as exciting I suspect I will return to this more over the years.