What you say
No-one has reviewed The Age Of Understatement by Last Shadow Puppets yet.
What we say
 This record left our Brian feeling happy.
Couldn't get out of bed this morning. But the minute I did, the sun came out. Which places my mind in positive territory just in time for the debut Last Shadow Puppets album. 'The Age of the Understatement' contains a nicely rounded 12 tunes of smooth, cinematic 60's inflected pop that often continues the spaghetti Western feel of last weeks chart baiting taster. It's all executed with panache & humor, a real whirlwind of echo laden pop genius to appeal to all ages. Yes the kids will dig this but so will their parents & possibly grandparents too. Alex Turner & his Scouse compadre have produced an album that in one fell swoop encapsulates all that is exciting about pop music. It's shamelessly retro but alarmingly fresh. I feel like i'm being hurled through the musical cosmos inside a big space hopper here. The most obvious reference points are The Coral, Phil Spector, Scott Walker & Sergio Leone but this is distinctly the work of the young Arctic Monkey, his spiky, effortless prose punctuating these bulbous tunes with carefree abandon. Shout out to the young Rascal too, for the magic Liverpudlian touch is all over this dreamy blast from the past. I think old mentor Richard Hawley is possibly partly to blame for this nostalgia fest but these bands have to offer a nod & a wink to the past to confirm future glories I suspect. So I was a little cynical about the single but the album as a whole is a welcome diversion, a nice slice of kitch indulgence from two very talented young men with a penchant for soaring orchestral pop & the odd bit of Northern balladeering. (Is this the new McAltmont & Butler then???) LP/CD on Domino.
What the label says:
The Last Shadow Puppets are Alex Turner (from Arctic Monkeys) and Miles Kane (from The Rascals). Firm friends ever since Arctic Monkeys toured with Kane’s previous group, The Little Flames, the pair were so inspired by listening to the likes of Scott Walker, early Bowie and David Axelrod, that they hatched a plan.
The Last Shadow Puppets recorded the songs at Black Box studios near Nantes, France in two weeks during the summer of 2007, with producer and drummer James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco).
The band then approached Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy) to arrange and conduct the orchestration of the tracks, which were recorded by the 22 piece London Metropolitan Orchestra at British Grove studios in London over Christmas.
‘The Age Of The Understatement’, is an album of 12 full-blooded songs, bold and brassy, full of drama, wit and melody, that source the past but avoid falling into pastiche. Both Miles and Alex are 22, and this is a youthful record, full of life and the sheer pleasure of music making.
The first single, also called ‘The Age Of The Understatement’ a majestic masterpiece is out now. The sweeping strings underscore the song and build up a very scenic and dramatic background to the Ennio Morricone styled guitars. It’s an uncontrollable race, an emotional whirlwind, a poignant rush to the head.
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