Track Listing

1. Age Of The Understatement
2. Standing Next To Me
3. Calm Like You
4. Separate And Ever Deadly
5. Chamber
6. Only The Truth
7. My Mistakes Were Made For You
8. Black Plant
9. I Don't Like You Anymore
10. In My Room
11. Meeting Place
12. Time Has Come Again

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7430 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-21
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

CD Description
The result of a collaboration between Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and lead singer of The Rascals Miles Kane, The Last Shadow Puppets' debut release is a predictably epic affair. The title track single is a cinematic patchwork of Morricone-esque themes and rhythmic motifs, dashed off with the sullen Northern wit we've come to expect from Turner. Withstrings arranged and conducted by Owen Pallett (otherwise known as Final Fantasy), 'The Age Of The Understatement' is amusical departure for Turner and Kane, taking in influencessuch as Scott Walker and David Bowie.

Customer Reviews

The Age Of Understatement
This is a very solid album, surprisingly good considering it's only a 'side project'. You don't need to be an Arctic Monkeys or Rascals fan to appreciate it, though if you don't like Alex Turner's voice then it won't be for you; he takes on the majority of vocal duties.

Full of (mostly) subtle orchestration and vocal harmonies, it sounds at times quite like the music you'd expect to find in a movie, perhaps a Bond soundtrack (listen to the intro to 'In My Room' and you'll understand). Most of the tracks have a frantic, energetic pace to them, particularly the title track and 'Black Plant'. Imagine the Arctic Monkeys, playing acoustically with an orchestra backing them and you've probably got a decent idea of the sound. The album is just as good when they slow the songs down and trade vocals, like in the brooding 'I Don't Like You Anymore'. It's more 'mature' and serious than anything they've released though, with the lyrics simpler and less wordy than Alex's usual fare. It's not particularly upbeat, all of the songs are quite dark and moody (though 'Meeting Place' gives a welcome respite from this, if not with the lyrics, at least with a more cheerful sound).

This probably won't be as well received as an Arctic Monkeys album, but it's just as good. There's a further depth to it that is lacking sometimes from their normal work, and it's nice to see two artists doing something experimental and different. The title is well chosen; the album is quite understated, definitely one that will grow the more times you listen to it.

Arctic Symphonies
Wow, what an album. These guys are 22. I'm an old fart in my 40s. But I love this record. It's a beautiful headrush of pleasure. The Arctic Monkeys I can take or leave, probably because my ears need a break from staccato guitars and that trebly punky thing. But this is a bold and exhilarating record. I suppose it is Scott Walker-ish (think Seventh Seal) and James Bond-ish (think Chris Cornell's Casino Royale theme song) and Arctic Monkey-ish (Alex Turner's distinctive vocals) but Alex and Miles have done their influences proud and can easily stand up there with the people who served as their inspiration. The first 4 tracks come rushing out of the speakers backed up with a breathless and soaring orchestral accompaniment that is so bombastically over the top you can only grin at its sheer joie de vivre (did I really say that?). Thereafter the quality control wobbles a bit, though I'd say it's only a couple of tracks that are not that great, but things rapidly improve again and the album ends on another, though less thunderous, high.

A shadow of greater bands
The Last Shadow Puppets enlisted the help of Scott Walker for this Love/Misunderstood/Coral inspired release. It isn't the most accessible of albums, filled with tracks that follow the same west coast usa 1970 formula. Apart from the obvious singles I feel the rest of the tracks are not diverse enough or contain enough quality to let this album flourish.

An album that lacks any real diversity or uniqueness fails to engage the listener and after the first 5 tracks, I lost interest in this at precisely this point. I struggle to work out what Alex Turner and co are trying to achieve with this attempt. Is it an artistic statement, a homage to their past music preferences or maybe an attempt to break away from the stereotype of their previous work?

Whatever the aim is, I feel it lacks conviction and any real depth of quality. Love, Misunderstood and The Coral all are favourites of mine, and this album should sit nicely with them. In fact if I played this along side them it might just work in places, but it feels even more outdated than the 1960's efforts.

This album fails by being too samey and lacks the quality to pull off the same trick 12 times over. Alex Turner is well known as the cocksure cheeky lad from Sheffield who fronts the Arctic Monkeys, and I believe that is where he excels and he should remain. He deserves some credit for being brave enough to break his mould and to push his and his fans limits, the Mercury nomination is essentially for just that, but this is where this should end.

*** Like: The Coral, The Misunderstood, Love ***