Last Shadow Puppets: 'The Age of the Understatement'

According to rumour, Alex Turner's side-project The Last Shadow Puppets took shape after he decided the cover art should feature him and Rascals frontman Miles Kane donning cream polo necks and puffing cigarettes next to a grand piano. Turner and Kane wanted to make "big and epic" Bacharach-style pop that was a million miles from the scruffy, rag-tag indie of their respective bands. On paper, it looked like an arrogant, self-indulgent folly, but you couldn't deny the pair's bravery.

From the first swell of orchestral strings to its final cinematic rumble, 'The Age of the Understatement' proves that Turner and Kane aren't mucking about on this one. Crossing spaghetti western melodrama with haunting psychedelia, this couldn't be further from the skinny-jeans indie of 'Mardy Bum'. Meanwhile, Turner's lyrics ("Subtle in her method of seduction, twenty little tragedies begin"), will have many searching for hints about the state of his relationship with Alexa Chung. It's hard to tell how seriously we should be taking the Puppets, but, on this evidence, it's going to be a lot of fun finding out.


> Click here to watch the 'Understatement' video