NME reported in January 2011 that the band were teaming up with producer James Ford once again, and would be releasing their fourth studio album in late spring at the earliest. Q magazine reported that the fourth Arctic Monkeys album would be of a «more accessible vintage» than Humbug. Q printed edition 299 states ‘It’s the sound of a band drawing back the curtains and letting the sunshine in’.
The album was recorded in Sound City Studios in Los Angeles in 2010 and 2011. On 4 March 2011 the band premièred on its website a new track called «Brick by Brick» with lead vocals by Matt Helders. Helders explained that this is not a single, just a tease of what is coming and that is definitely going to be in the fourth album. On 10 March 2011 the band revealed the album is to be called Suck It and See and was released on 6 June 2011.
Their fourth album’s first single, titled «Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair» was released as a digital download on 11 April, and on Vinyl with «Brick by Brick» on 16 April for Record Store Day. On 17 April, it went to No. 28 in the UK Singles Chart. A version of the single with 2 B-sides was released on 7 and 10 inch vinyl on 30 May. The band allowed fans to listen to the entire album on their website before deciding about whether to purchase it or not. Suck It and See was then released on 6 June 2011, and went straight to No. 1 in the album charts. In doing so, Arctic Monkeys became only the second band in history to debut four albums in a row at the top of the charts.
The band announced «The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala» as the second single to be taken from Suck It and See. Most of the stock was burned because of the London riots. A limited edition 7″ Vinyl of the single was then released over the band’s website on 14 August. The song only managed to chart in the top 200 in the UK, however reaching higher in Belgium at No. 25. In September 2011 the band released a music video for the song «Suck It and See» featuring drummer Matt Helders, and announced they would be releasing it as a single on 31 October 2011. In July 2011, the band released a live EP overiTunes with 6 live recordings from the iTunes Festival in London.
Arctic Monkeys embarked in May 2011 on their Suck It and See Tour. They headlined the Benicassim Festival 2011alongside The Strokes, Arcade Fire and Primal Scream. They also headlined Oxegen 2011, Super Bock Super Rock2011, V Festival 2011, Rock Werchter. and T in The Park. They confirmed on 7 February that they were playing two «massive homecoming shows» at the Don Valley Bowl in Sheffield on 10 and 11 June, support included Miles Kane, Anna Calvi, The Vaccines, Dead Sons and Mabel Love, clips from the show were also used in the music video for «The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala». They played at Lollapalooza 5–7 August 2011. On 21 August, they also played at Lowlands, the Netherlands. The tour continued until March 2012.
On 27 October they released a music video for «Evil Twin» on YouTube, the b-side to their new single «Suck It and See». They performed the song on The Graham Norton Show on 28 October. The 4th single from Suck It and See, «Black Treacle» was released on 23 January 2012. The video for the single was released on YouTube on 5 January 2012. This video continued the theme from the previous single, «Suck It and See» and «Evil Twin».
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