If you like Arctic Monkeys, try these 6 artists

If "Do I Wanna Know?" is the song you play at 1am when you should be asleep, you already know the Arctic Monkeys mood: a slow, heavy riff, a voice that sounds half bored and half in love, and lines you want to screenshot.

Here are six artists who live in that world, picked by us. We skipped the names everyone already hears next and went for cult bands, recent finds and one Delhi favourite. Start with the song under each name. The band released the one-off single "Opening Night" in January 2026, and the rest of the catalogue lives on their artist page.

1. The Cribs, "Men's Needs"

Three Jarman brothers from Wakefield, who made jagged, hooky guitar songs in the same mid-2000s boom as the Monkeys. "Men's Needs" (2007) is the lead single from Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever: a chant of a chorus and a bit of mischief. Johnny Marr later joined them for a record. If you wish the early Monkeys had a louder, scrappier cousin, this is it.

2. Wunderhorse, "Teal"

Jacob Slater, who fronted the band Dead Pretties, started Wunderhorse in London and put out "Teal" as the first single in 2021. It later opened up on the 2022 album Cub. It is a grainy, widescreen guitar song with a vocal that cracks in the right places, the same late-night weight as the AM era. More on Wunderhorse.

3. The Last Shadow Puppets, "Standing Next to Me"

The side door into Alex Turner's other life. With Miles Kane, he made The Age of the Understatement (2008), a record of sweeping strings, 1960s crooner melodrama and a tuxedo's worth of swagger. If you only know Turner from the leather-jacket AM years, this is the glamorous version. More on The Last Shadow Puppets and Alex Turner.

4. Sports Team, "Here's the Thing"

A London band that sounds like six people arguing happily in a pub. Their 2020 debut album Deep Down Happy is full of wordy, witty guitar songs about class, nostalgia and being a bit embarrassing. Alex Turner's way with a punchline is the closest comparison, only with more elbows.

5. Yard Act, "The Overload"

Leeds band, spoken-word vocals, a bassline you can hear from the next street. Singer James Smith talks his way through small-town snobbery and fake-it-till-you-make-it money, which is the same kind of sharp observing Turner did on the first Monkeys record. "The Overload" came out as a single in September 2021 and became the title of their January 2022 debut album.

6. The Local Train, "Choo Lo"

The home pick. A Delhi rock band whose song "Choo Lo" (2015, from the album Aalas Ka Pedh) is one of the most streamed Hindi rock songs there is, with a hook that stadium crowds in India sing back word for word. Think the Monkeys' heart-on-sleeve side, in Hindi. Spotify's own counter shows it past 280 million plays. More on The Local Train.

Where to go next

Work down the list in order and you will end somewhere very different from where you started, which is the point. If you want the Turner and Kane story in full, the 2008 record is the place. And if the Delhi pick clicked, keep an eye on the indie lane in our If You Like series.