Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner distances himself from 'voice of a generation' tag Band's frontman says in interview with Observer Magazine that he is not equipped to soundtrack the times

No monkeying around ... Alex Turner does not want to be cast as the 'voice of a generation'. Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features

Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner has attempted to distance himself from the "voice of a generation" tag that was thrust on him in 2006, saying: "I just don't think I'm equipped to soundtrack the times. There might be someone out there who can do that, but I haven't cracked it."

In an interview in Sunday's Observer Magazine (29 May), Arctic Monkeys – whose fourth album, Suck It and See, is released on 6 June – discuss coming to terms with songs from their first two albums, referring to 2007's Favourite Worst Nightmare as "fine" but "not that considered". According to Turner, their third album, Humbug, was a way of proving "that it weren't all about those 12 songs about the chip shop".

Elsewhere in the interview, Turner talks about the band's initial reaction to sudden notoriety ("we shut a lot of people out") and reveals that the new album was recorded without the pressure of trying to work out what an Arctic Monkeys album should sound like. "The main thing I learned is that whatever it is that makes us sound like us is built into the four of us."