Pitchfork

Hey hey they're the Arctic Monkeys, people say they monk-- er, people say they released the best damned album of all English and Irish artists this year, dammit. Those people are the Nationwide Mercury Prize's selection committee, who have just awarded the Arctics this year's coveted prize for Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.

Alex Turner and company were the odds-on favorite to win, and trumped second favorite Richard Hawley (nominated for Coles Corner), Thom Yorke (nominated for The Eraser), and nine others to pick up the honor, which some call prestigious, and others (probably the losers) call utter rubbish. According to NME.com, Turner reacted to the victory by exclaiming, "Somebody call 999 [911 to Americans], Richard Hawley's been robbed!" Um, somebody call Hollywood, that shit sounds scripted!

The Arctic Monkeys join the esteemed ranks of such past winners as Antony and the Johnsons, Franz Ferdinand, Dizzee Rascal, PJ Harvey, Pulp, Portishead, Primal Scream, Suede, and, um, Ms. Dynamite.

As previously reported, here are all the other folks whose arses they kicked:

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas
Editors - The Back Room
Guillemots - Through the Windowpane
Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
Hot Chip - The Warning
Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
Zoe Rahman - Melting Pot
Lou Rhodes - Beloved One
Scritti Politti - White Bread, Black Beer
Sway - This Is My Demo
Thom Yorke - The Eraser