It was close enough to four-and-a-half years ago when Sticky was last front and centre for a live Arctic Monkeys show. Prior to that it was a new year's eve performance at the Falls festival, when frontman Alex Turner hilariously stuffed up the all important countdown to midnight.

Leaving the stage after a cracking show that year (marking the very final moments in fact of 2011) Turner and his bandmates returned around 12.01AM on January 1, 2012, apologised and said he thought "somebody else" was doing the countdown. It hardly mattered. Arctic Monkeys play rock 'n' roll; they're not here to perform rituals and it's unlikely they'll play nice when they come back around next year for shows in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in February and March.

Arctic Monkey's 2014 tour was on the back of 2013's outstanding AM album, featuring R U Mine, Arabella and Do I Wanna Know and as we noted during that year's tour it was "not only the brightest stars of Brit rock, but rock 'n' roll's appeal" that shone so brightly the night of their Melbourne show. "Turner both croons and wails in between tearing riffs from his guitar - a mix of `50s Buddy Holly and modern day rock royalty," we wrote after the gig and a night on the tiles, including a chinwag with Turner himself at a Melbourne bar.

Since then there's been the divisive Tranquility Base & Hotel Casino album, released earlier this year. The band's sixth studio album was a major departure from what fans, both old and new, had grown to expect. However, Turner is not in the business of trying to please people, as his forgetfulness proved that new year's eve. He's in the business of making music and doing it his way. Tickets for Arctic Monkeys 2019 tour go on sale from next week. The band will be supported in Australia by Mini Mansions.

album of the week
Ben Leece
No Wonder the World is Exhausted
(Stanley Records)
★★★½
Signed to Australian label Stanley Records, which recently put out Take Me To Town, the three-disc compilation featuring Adam Young, Bill Jackson and the Weeping Willows among its 47 acts; Ben Leece delivers his debut long player of "silly songs" as he describes them in the liner notes. There's much to be proud of here, not just the song writing and Leece's guitar playing, but also contributions from Shane Nicholson (guitar and album production), Jason Walker's knockout pedal steel and the mood; slipping from reflective (Apple Tree) to rocking out (A Hole) and relaxing (Sunny Side).

selecta
Party Animals - Turbonegro
Roxy Music - Roxy Music
Killer - Dan Sultan