The Last Shadow Puppets 'Everything You've Come To Expect' review

Image: The Last Shadow Puppets (Credit: Zackery Michael)  

Eight years since their debut, a couple of albums in-between and finally its successor has been billed as a unequivocal blockbuster - helped by two fine looking men responding to the dress code of Vice City kingpin meets Frankie from The Business. 

This time around the twosome of prowling lotharios, Alex Turner and Miles Kane, are backed by a super-tight line up consisting of Arcade Fire's Owen Pallett, Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford and Mini Mansion's Zachary Dawes. 

Following up their Scott Walker inspired The Age Of The Understatement, the super-group have conjured another cinematic explosion of sweet seductiveness, influenced by the sounds of sixties and seventies USA. 

At times it's difficult to interpret the seriousness of the side project: is this an ingeniously worked slab of solid gold or a periodic get together for two mates to have a 'reet' good laugh?

Whatever it is, they're rolling this show into Glastonbury and Turner recently expressed that The Last Shadow Puppets may reconvene for a trilogy of albums in future. 

What's interesting about the record is that it's difficult to tell Turner apart from Kane at times; it's almost as if the new found princes of rock 'n' roll have merged into one slick as hell mutant.

But it's not all about them and Owen Pallett's string arrangements in particular are equal to forming the albums identity.

Opening track 'Aviation' (listen below) reignites the Shadow Puppets love affair and delves in tongue first with a steely proposition of "It's your decision honey/My planet or yours?"; the song's rhythm is coolly infectious and the sweeping string arrangements are equally profound.

'Miracle Aligner' slinks into Arctic Monkey's territory, sounding as pillow soft as that time they covered 'Baby I'm Yours' to trigger the record's charms offensive.

What's concrete throughout is Turner's poetic tongue: wasted Sheffield youth is a theme long lost in his repertoire, he's more of sophisticated bard these days - speaking in titillating metaphors.

A declaration of "Ce'st Horrifique!" on 'Dracula Teeth' reaffirms his literary elegance and "I'm the baddy's daddy" on psychedelic title track Everything You've Come To Expect' (listen below) reveals that signature witty hand.  

Its mid-point shuffles from the disco grooves on 'The Element Of Surprise' to the sinister allure of 'Bad Habits' and Zach Dawes' song defining fret-work that breaks up a flurry of sharp-shooting sexual references.

The eroticism extends to 'Sweet Dreams, TN', a track inspired by Alex's model girlfriend Taylor Bagley. "Baby we ought to fuck" is explicitly risqué of this damming swoon, while the spitting of "I aint got anything to lick without you baby" borders on playing out like a soft porn audio-book. 

Flicking through the album upon release is merely a piece of the entire package; this album is constructed to be consumed in a live setting and their recent mapping out with session musicians and a string quartet evidences that. 

Moonlight stagger 'The Dream Synopsis' provides a fitting end to the dramatised encounter, painting a utopia of Turner's home city.

He may reside in LA these days but it hasn't stopped him dreaming about "Palm tree debris everywhere and a Roman colosseum" in Sheffield City Centre. 

Swapping the north of England for the lavish lifestyle of the Sunshine State and all those afternoons indulging in the works of American soul singer Isaac Hayes or whatever they get up to - probably not that - has opened up a whole new way of approaching music for the two. 

Some say they come across as arrogant, but you could argue it's crucial to Kane and Turner's identity when donning the mask of The Last Shadow Puppets - after all they're striding LA in gold chains and loafers and quite frankly they couldn't give a fuck what you think.  

Musically it's much more of a collective effort, irrespective of both front-man, and it's hard to imagine that this will be the group's final say unless their unmistakable bond is broken.   

Try our latest interview with Everything Everything