The
album opens with a song containing a fast-paced
unison of strings, guitars, and drums reminiscent of
a Midwestern scene or of a troop of trotting horses.
The opening of the song has been said to sound
similar to the song “Knights of Cydonia” by Muse.
Both opening chord progressions are fairly common to
up-beat, faster-tempo songs such as these.
“The Age of the Understatement” is about a man who
is in a relationship. He is looking back on what he
had together with his ex, seeing in hindsight that
it didn’t work from the beginning. He knew that he
should have known better, but he decided to do it
anyway, knowing that things would eventually go
wrong. There is a current trend in society of
entering into relationships merely for the sex
instead of for the emotion. This is what the couple
in the song decided to do. Those that have those
types of relationships do not want to experience any
intense feelings or be attracted to the other. They
simply try to get in and get out before any
attraction they have solidifies and turns into
something more. By writing this song they way that
they did, Turner and Kane are attempting to convey
to their listeners that everyone is, in essence,
living in the age of the understatement. The chorus
of voices that can be heard in the background
illustrate the impending doom of the relationship.
The voices center around the character of the woman,
who can be thought of as the heartbreaker. She keeps
her men at arm’s length, being just seductive and
playful enough to keep them enthralled. The man in
the story, though, is secretly torn apart every time
that she does this to him. He knows that if he shows
his true attraction to her she will get bored with
him and simply move on to the next guy.
The music video for this song was shot by a French
film director named Romain Gavras and includes both
band members. The video opens showing a zamboni and
a girl lacing up her ice skates; the scene then
switches to show Turner and Miles standing in front
of a large Russian military tank. Much of the video
was shot at the Russian Capital in Moscow, Russia.
The two are seen singing in multiple locations
throughout the video including a car, a synagogue,
and on a stage. Both Turner and Kane display an
eerie similarity to the Beatles, which makes the
video an even more interesting view for the
audience.
“The Age of the Understatement” was the first single
from The Last Shadow Puppets. It gained popularity
on the UK Singles Chart in 2008 where it peaked at
number 9. As for chart popularity, this was the song
by The Last Shadow Puppets to gain the most
recognition.
