Everything about Alex Turner of The Artic Monkey’s and The Rascals’ Miles Kane collaborative side project screams nostalgia yet this album’s biggest achievement is how refreshing it sounds in comparison to the other retro homage efforts currently stealing the airwaves.
Unfortunately no other song makes the instant impact of the title track. Opening the album with Owen Pallett’s high strings and a relentless runaway locomotive beat that grabs the listener by the collar The Age Of The Understatement could have been the soundtrack to a 007 adventure with John Wayne playing Bond.
Indeed the entire album has its “sounds like” moments – Separate and Ever Deadly could have been a typical exercise in scally pop from The Coral while digging deeper into old school pop culture Only the Truth plays like chase music from a 60s Gerry puppet feature such as Thundebirds or Captain Scarlet.
Plenty of Bond soundtrack comparisons have been made (this is the second and last, promise) yet only My Mistakes Were Made For You lends itself straight up to idyllic matinee hero music. The melodrama of Standing Next To Me and Calm Like You are countered with The Chamber, the most haunting track on the album, while The Meeting Place, with its lazy shimmy tempo and Gallic trumpets is a throwback to a carefree stroll in a park, despite the underlying melancholy of the lyrics.
The meagre running time can perhaps explain why all this works. Underwhelming at first, The Age Of The Understatement is a grower, with merciful short bursts of inspiration ensuring the Last Shadow Puppets don’t outstay their welcome or stretch their concept much beyond the three minute mark, if even in some cases.
