“Gonna run out of time aren’t we?” says one Monkey boy.

But for Britain’s latest sensations, the time is now. Arctic Monkeys haven’t come from nowhere; while they always hoped to have their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not out in late 2005, but early 2006 had to do – and it’s not like the four-piece didn’t have music out and about. The band’s demos circulated throughout 2005, and indeed an early fear expressed by the group is that, despite their high profile in the early stages of this year, is that they’ll always be considered “a band from 2005”.

The funny thing about Arctic Monkeys’ story is that it wasn’t brought to you by the people in the know – they missed it, almost completely. By the time the likes of NME latched onto the group’s budding fanbase, the word had spread wide and far thanks to the On the Boardwalk demos, and broadsheets such as The Guardian and The Independent were just as enamoured with the group.

And that’s the thing about Arctic Monkeys – people don’t have the same preconception of them being Svengali-d or invented by the press as they did with the Strokes or the Libertines because it was the kids on the street who brought them to everyone’s attention. It was the sound of a billion squillion MP3s being traded, the trampling of feet to the sell out gigs, the spotty boys telling us “Don’t believe the ‘ype” on Top of the Pops. “It’ll be good to put it to rest,” says one member.

“Like Jamie sais it will always be something - first it’s gotta be the hype, then it’ll be ‘have they got staying power, can they last?’, queries another.

“When did I ever fooking say that?” Jamie pipes up.

“There’s always something to niggle at.”

All together when “I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor” blitzed its way to number, with family and friends in an emotionally-drenched gathering. “It was a very emotional day,” confirms one.

Internet spread the word, or was it the songs?
,” says one softly.

The internet helped spread the word for the band, but as one band member softly says “It’s definitely about the songs.”

It meant it didn’t take as long,” says frontman Alex Turner, alluding to the band’s rise from zeroes to heroes. “But the weird thing were when it went number one everyone had to put a reason on why it happened, all the publications. We were in The Economist and thing like that about how some unknown had topped the chart with a huge internet thing. There were mad things saying we sold 400,000 thanks to the internet, which is just absurd. I just think people found a certain affinity with the songs, or started caring about it I suppose.”

Comparisons with Cocker, Morrissey, and of course Doherty have come thick and fast since, all alluding to the lyrical strength of Turner in the way that he captures snapshots of Britain. “I don’t know. It’s…very nice. I never really…,” he stops, the poet lost for words. “I’ve got into the Smiths since the band started because I could never say I were a huge fan, but I certainly value the Smiths since the band started, and I’ve got a respect for Pulp ‘n that.”

The title of the album itself comes from a film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning that massively influenced the Smiths. It’s interesting that the world is coming full circle like this – it’s not that the band sound like the Smiths who documented the dissatisfaction of life under Conservative Thatcher rule, Arctic Monkeys have the same power to be the equivalent for the Neo-Cons of Bush and Blair.

So will Arctic Monkeys convert to American success where the Smiths did not? Well, that remains to be seen. One strength they clearly have is that Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not is not conceptual – instead it’s a collection of songs put together well, with closer “A Certain Romance” being the notable exception. That song is so good, and so significantly more amazing than anything else on the record, that on the tracklisting it sits apart from the nominal ‘Side A’ and ‘Side B’. It’s a clear nod to the tune itself, as if the band recognise just what a powerful moment of music it is.

“We knew what order we wanted the songs to be in,” Alex clarifies, “but we didn’t go in and record them like that, but all the songs on the album were recorded in the one session.”

Meanwhile, the band believe that the newer songs, such “View From the Afternoon”, are going in a slightly different direction. “The second half of the record is, dare I say, experimental, huhuh huh,” genuflects guitarist Jamie Cook. “There’s definitely a sketchbook of ideas that progress. It’s not like it jumps from one style to the other but it gradually changes.”

The band are united in confirming that Arctic Monkeys will go through differences in the future as they grow and mature as a band. “We say that I think you might have an idea for a song but it might be six songs away in terms of writing, and you’ve got to do those six songs to be able to do that,” is how Alex explains it. “You’ve got to go through the motions to get to this different style or whatever you want to do, and you can’t just jump because it would sound ridiculous. I don’t mean in terms of tracks on the record, but in terms of writing. You might write things that become stepping stones.”

At the moment, Alex guesses that he has ten ideas, or mebbe more. “We just want to carry on. The weird thing is the album is only just coming out, but we’ve been playing them songs for quite a long time – before we got signed and before we started doing proper tours, so they do feel old to us.”

Arctic Monkeys’ debut Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not is out every-bloody-where now. Rumour has it they’ll be touring for Splendour mid-year.