As I listen to this album it feels like I’m entering a show in my mind. The lights go down, the sound turns up and it grasps my full attention. The album in question? “The Age of the Understatement” released 15th of April 2008 by the Last Shadow Puppets composed of the frontman of the band Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner and solo artist Miles Kane.
12 songs, 35 minutes and 12 seconds. The time it takes to listen to the full album. An album full of charm that can tug on the heart strings, with a 60s indie melodramatic sound it feels as though Turner had a point to prove. Since the early 2000s it was clear Turner was capable of producing witty indie dance songs about Sheffield adolescence. This however is “everything you’ve come to expect” in the words of Alexis Petridis from the Guardian. We as an audience had a feeling Turner was going to turn around and do the unexpected. With a James Bond like feel it seems as though nothing is out of reach for the pair, with already having experience working together in previous years the most famous collaboration they had before “The Age of the Understatement” being one of the Arctic Monkeys most famous songs “505” where Kane played and wrote the guitar for the song which was a huge success back in 2007 and is still apart of current pop culture.
With Turner growing up as the “starry-eyed Sheffielder” and Kane as the “smug Scouser”, Sam Wolfson describes their creation as “intimate” and seductive with tenderness coming into play for the vocal performance. Something we haven’t seen much of from Turner or Kane before, but together they make an almost perfect pitch/harmony between them that gives a sense of confusion to the listener because separately they have such distinct voices but “offer(s) little distinguish”, said Pitchfork . Their voices together sound peaceful and mellow but still holding its charming grittiness. A sound I can sink back into and not have to think twice about, with cleverly crafted (and sometimes puzzling) lyrics it has an almost imperfect balance.
(All song descriptions and interpretations are my own after listening to the album multiple times, as no meanings have ever been confirmed or denied by Turner or Kane)
With the first song on the album being the title and setting the tone of the entire debut it opens strongly with a close to gallop sound inspired by western movies, it is almost like a punch in the face for an opening song not compared to the rest of the album. The song itself is written about a relationship falling apart. Where one is more serious about the other half and it is crumbling in front of them, “My fingers scratch at my head before my mind can get too reckless”. One half of the couple decides to try find a prostitute for the night, “decided to sneak off away from your stomach and try your pulse”. Once they find someone for the night they realise that they are uninterested even with the temptation and her trying to seduce him dancing, dressing and acting a certain way, “subtle in a method of seduction”, “and she would throw her feather boa in the road, if she thought that it would set the scene”. Still with the temptation and feelings of heartbreak it is not enough. Feeling of shame and regret come through when the last line of the song is announced and they realise the decision was a mistake, “the idea of seeing you here is enough to make the sweat go cold”. With the sound alone this song stands out and it is in my opinion the only song that could have opened this album.
“Standing Next to Me,” the album’s second track, narrates a love triangle involving a man who wants the fiancée of another man. Songs like “Want her/ Have her/ Two years have gone” depict a third person pursuing a serious relationship while the narrator berates the pursuer for being immature. Phrases like “But I can’t relate to the never-ending games that you play” convey annoyance at the dishonest methods used by the pursuer. Turner and Kane emphasize how immature it is to pursue someone who is already in a relationship. Although the song was well-liked by fans, it feels skippable due to its repetitious and basic style, which lacks the duo’s typical creative flair.
To follow next in the standout track, “Calm Like You,” has some of the strongest lyrics on the album and a jittery waltz vibe. With a nod to the 1960s, Turner’s showmanship is impressive. While some lines—“Summertime made promises it knew it couldn’t keep” and “Burglary and fireworks, the skies they were alighting”—capture crime, drama, and passion, others, like “I can still remember when your city smelt exciting,” depict evocative visions of romance against a tragic backdrop, as if the couple were the only people living in that moment. “Now I am craving heartbreak while you’re making your demands”. It’s vibrant, cinematic and expressive, if Moulin Rouge was a song this would be it.
Skipping to the 7th song in the album “My Mistakes Were Made For You” which is my personal favourite on the album (also played in season 15 episode 6 of top gear, which is also my favourite show). This is a song about relationships (shocker), i wouldn’t describe it as a “typical” love song sound, it definitely sounds like it belongs in a James Bond film. The song itself describes someone the musician meets as he becomes famous. His “fame that put words in her mouth”. Even though he understands that this is a bad decision he can’t help himself and lets her “whisk” him away. “And in the back of a bad dream she came and whisked me away”. As this being my favourite song off the album I might be biassed. This song simply sounds amazing, even from the title it perfectly sums up what I think the pair would say to each other, even though it ended with them both “scrambling from the blame”. If i were to give a song a 10/10 this would be it. This song makes me feel a certain way everytime i listen to it from the start of the song until the very end “it’s a lot to ask her not to sting and give her less than everything, innocence and arrogance entwined”. Whether it be on the bus to college or lying on my bed at home this song has the power to make me feel euphoric for 3 minutes and 6 seconds.
Overall this is an album that had been bashed together and came out as a novel instead. With every song like a chapter, they have such distinctive and individual sounds that works as I’m not a fan of albums where all the songs sound the same. All songs are about relationships like every other album out there. We now live in a world where music is no longer political and it’s hard to find good music that isn’t about love, sex or drugs. I would have liked to have seen some different topics brought up but I didn’t expect anything less from the young British duo.