Unerring Patrons of Bygone Beauties,

Upon first hearing the first single, Age of the Understatement, by Larst Shadow Puppets, I was sceptical; two lads from two equally annoying bands had released Johnny, Remember Me, a hit by John Leyton in 1961, with different words.

Alex Turner’s band, the Arctic Monkeys, are superstars despite their roughness and grim overtones (I can't believe Voxtrot are currently in their top 4 friends, that means the Arctic Monkeys might actually like music). Miles Kane’s lot, The Rascals, play their guitars like cheese graters to the delight of the NME, who don’t care that the band are only 10% as good as their previous incarnation, The Little Flames. Thankfully on their collaboration, they employed a talented orchestra and the album, of the same title as the lead single, they produced now entertains me much more than any of them have done previously.

I sidestepped my initial quibbles with Age of the Understatement, perhaps prompted to do so by Standing Next to me, the latest single with a fantastic video; it’s only 2 minutes and 18 seconds long, that’s classic pop record length. It strikes me, with this track that they really have thought of everything in their effort to pay tribute to the past. Calm Like You is my favourite, for listeners who don’t pay attention, the lyrics are worth looking up, it’s the tale of a familiar situation. The big band really does provide great drama to every song and they do their best to distract from the tactless vocals our two protagonists are celebrated for. The London Metropolitan Orchestra has every right to call themselves Larst Shadow Puppets too. As with the records of old, the like made by Frank Sinatra and his generation, the overall sound is dramatically improved by employing skilful session musicians rather than sampling, looping or playing with effects pedals, I can only hope that others follow the lead of Turner, Kane and the drummer (acknowledge James Ford, he may be the main man) and that the industry rids itself of electrical wizardry, returns to real instruments – it might even be worth paying the stomped up ticket price to one of the gigs. I’d part with £25 to see Larst Shadow Puppets in Glasgow.