If you’ve heard me butt into a conversation of yours at anytime in the last week, it’s probably been regarding this band The Last Shadow Puppets who are currently consuming most of my ears’ time (both of them). The Last Shadow Puppets is the “side project” of Alex Turner and Miles Kane (from The Arctic Monkeys and The Rascals respectively). I put a heavy emphasis on the air quotes I’m made while saying “side project” because if the intention was to just make a record in a different vein then their normal garage-rock/indie/whatever the f you want to call music these days, they certainly have stumbled across an excessive amount of promotion and popularity that is probably going to make that a little difficult.
It seems they’ve committed to the new endeavor, though, because they’ve been making TV and radio appearances left and right and are generating even more interest in the blogosphere. I hate that word. I can’t believe I just used it…
Right at the peak of the hype in the last week, they appeared on World Cafe to play a few tracks between the two of them (they normally have a body of musicians surrounding them rounding out the sound into this epic, film soundtrack type of sound). It was fucking sweet and I recommend taking a few minutes of your probably pretty busy day to give it a listen. My suggestion: don’t listen to it while you are doing something else. It’s easy to idle through new music because the majority of it literally isn’t worth your time, but take my word for it on this one and set aside a block of time and pay attention. The show is only 16 minutes long, you can afford that, right?
I’m not an expert on the men and haven’t interviewed them myself, so I’m not going to act like I have some kind of first hand knowledge. Anyone with an internet connection and a vague knowledge of what they like can find this crap out. Apparently the two guys met while on tour and have been friends for a while, sparking from a common interest in a lot of old 60’s mod stuff and a general lust for epic production. It’s pretty obvious that at least a part of their influence comes from, again at least part of, David Bowie’s catalogue. And obviously Bowie is top to bottom awesome, so…
David Bowie “In the Heat of the Morning”
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The reason I like this record so much is because it does live up to their intention of creating something that is “epic” sounding. If you listen to the record, it can consume you, and I absolutely love shit like that. That’s why I say to PAY ATTENTION when you listen to these guys. You won’t regret it.
Kane apparently guested on a few Arctic Monkeys tracks since 2005 so these guys have been playing together on some level for a while and finally now have brought it together to create something new. The first single was scheduled to come out the week before the record, but alas, the internet has holes and (unless you’re The Raconteurs) leaks like a rusty watering can, so we had the opportunity to hear the title track, The Age of the Understatement, sometime in mid-March.
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
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The album itself didn’t come out until April 21. To restate: it’s awesome. I give it my 100% approval rating. They actually cover that Bowie track as a B-side.
The Last Shadow Puppets - In the Heat of the Morning
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If I’m not mistaken, they’ve played a few shows in New York City and one or two in London with Remi Nicole (which again is sweet). They’re not actually going on tour until October this year because Miles Kane is still doing some dates with The Rascals (who ALSO just put out an album, though I haven’t heard it and am not really rushing to do so). I do know that they plan on playing with a 16-piece orchestra when they do go on tour, so that is going to be sickening. This particular gentlemen doesn’t typically wait around impatiently for a band to tour, but The Last Shadow Puppets have turned the tables on me.
Check out a couple of these other tracks from them. And don’t forget to listen to that World Cafe show. It’s a good time and pretty cool to hear them talk because they’re both just young guys like anybody else and are laid back and refrain from any type of arrogance, which is respectable, though would be deserved had they shown said quality.
The Last Shadow Puppets - Meeting Place
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The Last Shadow Puppets - In My Room
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Oh, and the other thing that is cool about these guys are the videos they’ve been creating along the way to promote the album. This is one of them live, but I recommend checking out some of the stuff on YouTube right now, too.