The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age Of The Understatement

by John Linden in Album Reviews

Most of the reviews you’ll read for this album will barely acknowledge the lesser known of the two members of The Last Shadow Puppets, The Rascals’ Miles Kane. Nearly every word is devoted to Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner. And Turner certainly does shine on this album. His lyrics are as sharp as ever, his vowels as blunt. Oh, yeah, Kane’s good too.

The relationship between the two musical soulmates began when Kane’s former band, Liverpool’s The Little Flames, opened for Arctic Monkeys on a few dates of their UK tour. They clearly hit it off, as Kane’s shimmering surfadelic guitar can be heard on 505, The Bakery, and Plastic Tramp. It becomes sort of a challenge to figure out how they got from those tunes to the grand, sweeping ones presented here, but they did, and the results are pleasant.

Let’s get something very clear: This isn’t Arctic Monkeys. For the fanboys out there (hey, I’m one of them) I’ll say it again: This isn’t Arctic Monkeys. Matt Helders’ punishing-yet-danceable drums are nowhere to be found, instead replaced by producer James Ford’s Ventures-meets-Seeds skin-pounding. The whole album feels very vintage, very retro, as opposed to the Sheffield boys’ forward-looking attitude. This can be a good or a bad thing depending on your musical tastes. You’re not going to find anything new here, but what you will find is still pretty good.

Lead single and title track ‘The Age Of The Understatement’ is a sublime slice of musical goodness, a tune that tucks you in and makes you feel comfortable. Right off the bat, you know you’re in pretty good hands here. The album continues to impress, but not overly so. The tunes are solid, but not mind-blowing. The band have openly admitted their influences here (Scott Walker, early Bowie) and they don’t seem to escape those until track seven. ‘My Mistakes Were Made For You’ is simply a fantastic song. Kane’s shivery guitar fits like a glove here, and Turner spins another brilliant yarn (how many is that now?). His genius is in finding words that sound literary, roll off the tongue, and are not the least bit pretentious coming out of his mouth. These lines come to mind:

“Then we scramble form the blame

And it, the fame that put words in her mouth,

She couldn’t help but spit them out.

Innocence and arrogance entwined

In the filthiest of minds.”

Unfortunately, the record on a whole is not quite as good as this song. There are no weak tracks, but very little ‘wow’ factor. Still, it’s a must for anyone waiting for the next Arctics album. And if you aren’t one of those people, give it a listen. It might surprise you.