The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement (Domino)
3/5
By: Natasha Arico
A certain burden accompanies reviewing the product of the collaboration between one of Britain's most celebrated young songwriters and his best mate, a lad, of equal song writing calibre yet one who has somehow managed to dodge the level of recognition that's thrashed on his colleague. It's a fairy tale worth telling; two nice English boys from almost identical working class upbringings meet when one boy's band, Miles Kane's previous ensemble The Little Flames, support Alex Turner's mega-outfit Arctic Monkeys on UK tour. Forming an immaculate friendship and a musical bond that in strength is comparable to Lennon and MacCarthney, Turner and Kane have unintentionally become the UK's most exciting new musical partnership, though arguably, owing much to the public esteem of the Arctic Monkeys.
And so, in many ways, a review of The Last Shadow Puppets debut, the candidly titled The Age of The Understatement, somehow involves inherently the pressure of explaining how this record isn't just another Arctic Monkeys output, a premise that even after five solid days of listening, I am not wholly convinced of myself. Indeed, there are stark similarities between the wonderfully accessible The Age of The Understatement and the Monkeys' last masterpiece, which brings into the spotlight the level of input each man injected into the aforementioned album. Damn, they even have the same producer in Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford. Indeed, so much to think about when listening to this superbly accomplished record, though nothing more (de-)pressing than the fact that really, there is utterly zilch in it that's ground breaking and/or thrilling. NADA!
Evidently, Ford brings an experienced production hand as well as his drumming expertise to the orchestral laden rock project, which swoons in gigantic, ambient packed changes and effected vocals. Opening and title track 'The Age of The Understatement' prepares the stage for the main event, which runs consistently at the same modest intensity for forty-ish minutes, highlighted by 'The Chamber' and 'My Mistakes Were Made for You', both eloquently written and arranged yet in a way, painfully too nice. Organs squeeze suspensefully through 'In My Room', a crescendoing, cinematic track that marks the beginning of the end for the long player, an end typified by the apologetic, summer time shimmy in 'Meeting Place' and eventually, the string filled 'That Time Has Come Again'. Mellow, palatable yet so sickeningly "understated" that you just wish Tuner had found a kindred spirit in Frank Carter because just sometimes, it's nice to state something unexpected.
Artists in this article: The Last Shadow Puppets
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