The Age Of The Understatement

Amazon.com Famous for demonstrating how less is more when it comes to publicity, it comes as no surprise that The Age of the Understatement, the first side project from Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, should appear to no great fanfare. The Last Shadow Puppets are Turner and Miles Kane, formerly of Monkeys tourmates The Little Flames and now in the Rascals, aided by producer (and here, drummer) James Ford, also of Simian Mobile Disco. Inspired by the widescreen orchestral Sixties pop of Scott Walker and legendary arranger David Axelrod, they enlisted the London Metropolitan Orchestra under the aegis of Canadian Owen Pallett (aka Final Fantasy and an erstwhile member of the Arcade Fire's string section). The result is entirely successful, owing as much to the romanticism of Richard Hawley and the eclectic approach of the Coral as any sixties precursors. The thundering title track is pure Scott though, "I Don't Like You Anymore" is twisted pop in the best Cosmic Scouse tradition and the beautiful "Meeting Place", brilliantly enhanced by Pallett's orchestration, already sounds like an old classic. "Standing Next to Me" is genuinely exciting, "Calm Like You" is a new take on Turner's familiar style while "The Chamber" even sees him crooning. The Age of the Understatement is a fine, convincing album that proves Turner's talent is truly adaptable and marks Kane out as a talented songwriter too. --Steve Jelbert Product Description The Age Of The Understatement is the debut album from The Last Shadow Puppets, a project by Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and long-time friends Miles Kane of The Rascals and James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco. It 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.