It’s been a lifetime in pop music since the Last Shadow Puppets’ debut album, The Age of the Understatement, went straight to number one in the UK charts. With Alex Turner taking a break from his day job with Arctic Monkeys, however, he’s finally got back together with ex-Rascals’ mainman, Miles Kane, to resurrect their side project for album number two. Cinematic orchestral beat pop may still be the order of the day on Everything You’ve Come To Expect, but there have been changes, and the melodramatic Scott Walker and David Bowie-like flourishes have been turned down somewhat to allow plenty of other flavours to shine through.
Opening track “Aviation” could almost be a cover of a forgotten collaboration between Lee Hazlewood and John Barry, while “Miracle Aligner” brings to mind fellow Sheffielders Pulp at their most knowingly lounge lizard-like, especially with lyrics like “he was born to blow your mind or something along those lines”. Elsewhere, new recruit Zack Dawes’s funky bass warms up the cinematic pop of “Dracula Teeth”, and “Everything You’ve Come to Expect” lays down some sunny psychedelic pop, albeit with less than sunny lyrics. On “Sweet Dreams TN”, Alex Turner croons: “I don’t recognise this fool you have made me” over some richly flavoured Roy Orbison-like orchestral melancholy, while “The Element of Surprise” brings in some low-key lounge disco sounds. The single, “Bad Habits”, is altogether more raw and unpolished, with Miles Kane stage-whispering: “Should’ve known little girl that you’d do me wrong. Should’ve known by the way you were showing off", before seriously letting rip.
The influences on Everything You’ve Come to Expect may be many, but they aren’t overbearing and they don’t obscure the Last Shadow Puppets’ own character. That said, all these different flavours and textures generally make for a pretty laid-back ride, and a bit more grit in the works really wouldn’t have hurt.
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