“The Age of the Understatement”
by the Last Shadow Puppets, $13.98

The Last Shadow Puppets is a collaboration between Alex Turner (lead singer of the Arctic Monkeys), Miles Kane (lead guitarist and vocalist of The Rascals), and drummer James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco.

While listening to the band’s debut full-length album, at times I feel as though I’m listening to ’70s TV themes or an old James Bond soundtrack. At other times I detect what could be described as the Doors of the new millennium. I should also note that the group’s “Age of the Understatement EP” from iTunes, released in April, contains a quite true-to-form cover of David Bowie’s “In the Heat of the Morning.” If any of these sounds appeals to you, you’ll probably love this release.

It’s a brisk and breezy record that’s easy to get through in one sitting. Most of the songs are under three minutes.

The band’s first and title track begs to be a radio hit, and it probably will be. It’s got galloping drums and guitar that make it sound strangely similar to “Knights of Cydonia” by Muse. Hmm … I wonder if somebody’s trying to get a spot on Guitar Hero IV.

Where the Last Shadow Puppets really gains my heart is on the third track, “Calm Like You,” with its brass section and surf-rock guitar. Turner channels the late Jim Morrison on the following song, “Separate and Ever Deadly.” The album’s moment of glory really happens on “Meeting Place,” a nostalgic tune about — or that seems to be about — a lost love that’s hard to let go: “He’s worried she’s waiting in his dreams/ to drag him back to the meeting place/ His love had left him there.” It’s the musical equivalent of standing under a street lamp on a calm, cool evening — stylish, peaceful, and evoking a specific and palpable mood.

The cool thing about this album is that it takes you back and takes you forward at the same time. Whether you’re looking for nostalgia or something fresh and new, you’ll find it casted in the Last Shadow Puppets.