TORONTO - "You've been absolutely delightful," summed up Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner last night as the Sheffield band neared the end of their sold-out show at Kool Haus.

The feeling was mutual although frankly, the Monkeys' ferocious-sounding and fast-paced 75-minute set was almost over before fans in the sweaty, packed club even realized what hit them.

The visit was in support of the British rock quartet's highly anticipated sophomore effort, the two-and-a-half week old Favourite Worst Nightmare, which follows last year's Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, which became the biggest selling debut in British music history.

Not bad for a group of twentysomething musicians who barely look out of high school.

The Monkeys were in these parts at the height of Whatever's popularity last June, which marked their third visit to our city that year, and were riding high on the success of their breakout single I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.

Still, by this point, you expect a little more, performance-wise, out of Turner -- charming and adorable though he was -- guitarist Jamie Cook, drummer Matt Helders, and bassist Nick O'Malley.

Accomplished musicians one and all -- particularly Helders who never really let up on his drum kit for one second -- but they barely moved from their positions on stage.

Instead, they concentrated on making a wildly dense, noisy sound with plenty of choppy guitar and driving percussion.

Their stage was also a stripped-down affair with four portholes behind them as light standards and the odd bit of leftover confetti floating down from the ceiling.

"We didn't bring the confeffi but it's been a welcome addition,"Turner said dryly.

The Monkeys' set list was equally divided between their two discs but given the newness of Favourite, older songs like Still Take You Home, Dancing Shoes, Fake Tales Of San Francisco, I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, The View From The Afternoon, When The Sun Goes Down, and the show ending A Certain Romance, were clear fan favourites, often inspiring clap or singalongs.

Of the new material, the first single, Brianstorm, along with Do Me A Favour, Old Yellow Bricks, If You Were There, Beware, and Fluorescent Adolescent were among the best received.

The Arctic Monkeys play Montreal tonight.