Arctic Monkeys buzz = word of mouth?

So I was browsing today's Cleveland Plain Dealer, as I often do, and I noticed a story in the Arts section about the South by Southwest Music Festival. If you are reading this blog and you don't know what this is, then that would make me severely confused.

The article talks about British invasion bands that are there and what not. This is where I will begin quoting directly.

The Arctic Monkeys were the hottest of them all. The line to get into their Friday night showcase at Austin's La Zona Rosa stretched for blocks. The group's debut album, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not," is already a big hit in the U.K., and the group is starting to build real word-of-mouth in the United States, with its very British blend of muscular, working-class rock, shimmering pop and scenester cool.

That's all it said, one paragraph. However, this adds to the list of media outlets where I have read or heard about the Arctic Monkeys. This list includes WOXY, WOBN, CD101, People Magazine, Spin Magazine, CNN, various internet blogs, etc.

How does this constitute 'real word of mouth'? Sorry, this may make me somewhat jaded and/or guilty of snobbery, but still. What is the cutoff between an all-out media blitz and word of mouth? Whose mouths are we talking about here?

Anyways, I've heard the record and it's average. This should also read as no surprise.

Oh, and the article also included reference to our old friends:

We Are Scientists rocked an afternoon gig sponsored by Spin magazine at Stubbs BBQ. The New York outfit blasted through its herky-jerky hits from the new album "With Love and Squalor." The hipsters don't like 'em, but who cares.

ARGH! *Howard Dean noise* Who are these people? How have they infiltrated EVERY media outlet that has even a remote connection to music?

The article.