Graffiti has emerged in Sheffield, seemingly addressing Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner‘s new life in the US.
Turner has been living in Los Angeles for the past few years, previously saying that he moved to the city because it is “built on rock ‘n’ roll”.
The band’s new album ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’ was largely written and recorded in LA, as well as London and Paris. The record contains several references to America, including a song called ‘The World’s First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip’ and a lyric about how “the leader of the free world reminds you of a wrestler wearing tight golden trunks”.
Now, graffiti by the artist Bubba2000 has popped up in the Hunter’s Bar suburb of the band’s home city of Sheffield, appearing to take aim at Turner’s new LA lifestyle, which the person behind the message clearly deems at odds with the group’s early lyrics.
“Hey Alex… How’s California?”, the graffiti asks, alongside an image of a coffin with “RIP” written inside.
The graffiti appears to refer to Turner’s lyrics from ‘Fake Tales Of San Francisco’: “He talks of San Francisco, he’s from Hunter’s Bar / I don’t quite know the distance, but I’m sure that’s far / Yeah, I’m sure it’s pretty far”.
See a photo of the Hunter’s Bar graffiti below:
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he talks of San Francisco he’s from Hunter’s Bar pic.twitter.com/TweaxCJCpZ
— MLE (@notemilycoates) May 12, 2018
Despite polarising fans, ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’ has gone straight in at No.1 and become the fastest-selling vinyl release in the UK of the last 25 years.
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Meanwhile, Alex Turner addressed the band’s past controversy of being involved in a tax avoidance scheme.
“We were given some poor advice and I made a poor decision,” Turner told The Sunday Times. “But I always paid my taxes in full, on time.”
Asked why they were involved in the first place, Turner replied: “Because there was a potential that we would, that’s the important point.”