Nearly every style of sixties music has been rehashed, recaptured, and repackaged in the new millennium, be it hippie jamband, psychedelia, British invasion, soul, garage, pop, folk-rock, country-rock, acid-rock, and on and on. The Last Shadow Puppets, however, have discovered a corner of the sixties sound that has lain relatively untouched. Throwing out the names of Scott Walker (most famously the singer of "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" by the Walker Brothers) and jazz-rock auteur David Axelrod, the Last Shadow Puppets focus on "orchestral pop/rock" that recalls not only the (relatively) obscure names mentioned above, but also John Barry's James Bond soundtracks as well as Ennio Morricone's spaghetti westerns (both of which, by the way, yielded hits on sixties radio). However, the group may actually be doing themselves a disservice by openly proclaiming the above works as their reference points, as The Age Of The Understatement has more spit, aggression, tension, and fast tempos than are generally found in this particular corner of the music world. No lugubrious, string-laden ballads or self-confessional orchestral parades of pomp are present in The Last Shadow Puppets work, which is all to the good and actually reinvigorates this music with a startlingly fresh approach. The two main members of the group are Alex Turner (of Brit-pop punkers The Arctic Monkeys) and Miles Kane (of Brit-poppers The Rascals). Although these two came up with the concept and wrote and sang all the songs, they have been given huge assists by the presence of drummer/producer James Ford (of Simian Mobile Disco) and string arranger Owen Pallett (of Final Fantasy, and whose credits also include the orchestral arrangements for Arcade Fire). The combination of these four musical forces has yielded one of the most unashamedly charming and infectious releases of the year. The title track opens things with a galloping beat and orchestral flourish of strings, tympani, and marching snare drum. Twangy guitar and a huge male chorus add hook upon hook as Turner spits out his tale of seduction with lines like "She would throw her feather boa in the road/If she thought that it would set the scene/Subtle in her method of seduction/The twenty little tragedies begin". "Standing Next To Me" follows with a gorgeous melody overlaid with sweeping, movie-score strings. Ford shows off his drumming chops on "Calm Like You" which features a stuttery beat that is unlike anything in the sixties canon the group is drawing from, all placed underneath a beautiful, rather complex melody-line. Song after song follows, with Pallett's gorgeous string arrangements and massed horn charts providing the beauty to go along with the ferocious march beats ("Separate and Ever Deadly," "Only The Truth"), Zombies-like wistfulness ("The Chamber"), and overall air of aggressive minor-key lamentations ("The Meeting Place"). Turner, whose accomplished lyricism has always been evident in his work with the Arctic Monkeys, holds nothing back here, using his wit and command of English to come up with alliterative images such as "innocence and arrogance entwined" in "My Mistakes Were Made For You". With songs often tied together by string codas, the whole album flows seamlessly from first note to last, with "Time Has Come Again" providing a simple acoustic guitar and voice conclusion to the lavish proceedings that have come before. Indeed, with this type of music, this last song would have normally been overlaid with lush strings and made into a pompous ballad, but The Last Shadow Puppets will have none of this. Turner, Kane, and associates did not set out to merely recreate what has come before, but to reinvigorate and reinvent it. With The Age Of The Understatement, mission accomplished.

Standing in contrast to The Last Shadow Puppets, Duffy has no problem attempting to recapture the sounds of the sixties, without, unfortunately, adding anything of her own to the proceedings. While the first single, "Mercy," carries the necessarily addictive hooks that make it an enjoyable listen, the album as a whole comes off more like an exercise session than one filled with inspiration. In addition, Duffy's voice often fails to carry the emotional message contained in the lyrics, with its autopilot seemingly set on either aggressive pleas or sassy asides. While a number of talented people have lent a hand here, including Bernard Butler as producer and co-writer, Rockferry promises much more than it ever delivers. This being her first album, Duffy may be someone to keep on an eye on in the future. As of now, however, more work remains to be done.