Review: The Last Shadow Puppets: The Age of the Understatement

By Jay Ditzer

Alex Turner is the brains behind the Arctic Monkeys. Miles Kane is pals with Turner, and is also the lead singer of the Rascals, a band that has yet to release a full album but has toured with Arctic Monkeys. Obviously then, the time was right for a supergroup side project. Say hello to the Last Shadow Puppets.

Instead of the brash guitar pop one might expect from the Turner/Kane axis, "The Age of the Understatement" uses a different tactic. Traditional rock instrumentation underpins everything, but the brass, woodwinds and strings are the disc's sonic footprint. As a result, the album has a highly retro flavor, but never stoops to kitsch. It's pop, but not in the pejorative, "American Idol"-sense of the word: It's the kind of pop that used to coexist peacefully in the charts alongside the Beatles and the Byrds way back when. An obvious musical touchstone would be the four sequentially numbered albums Scott Walker released in the late ’60s. In fact, the title cut is highly reminiscent of Walker's take on Jacques Brel's "Jackie," sharing similarly galloping, driving arrangements, although the Puppets' lyrics are much less perverse than Brel's translated words.

"...Understatement" is no hodgepodge homage. Tracks like "Calm Like You," "My Mistakes Were Made for You" and "In My Room" are well-constructed tunes. The sweeping strings and parping trumpets do serve to add a sheen of maturity to the proceedings. "The Meeting Place" would make a great guitar-based number, but the orchestration adds a wistful edge to a tale of betrayal and loss, making the whole thing a tad more affecting.

Turner and Kane get all the attention, but drummer James Ford is a member of Simian Mobile Disco, as well as being an in-demand producer. In addition the Understatement, Ford has twiddled the knobs for the Klaxons, the Test Icicles and, get this, Arctic Monkeys. Owen Pallett, who arranged and conducted the strings, therefore providing a massive chunk of the album's sound and feel, has served in a similar capacity for a little band called the Arcade Fire. A group effort, in other words.

I can't imagine that the Last Shadow Puppets would be an ongoing concern, as all parties have steady day jobs, and the orchestrated pop gambit might seem gimmicky if used too often, but "The Age of the Understatement" is a solid record on its own merits.