The tracks on Submarine, infused as they are with melancholy, weepy chords and muted delivery allow that feel of kitchen sink, small town romance are also very reminiscent of fellow Sheffield lad Richard Hawley.
The tracks on Submarine, infused as they are with melancholy, weepy chords and muted delivery allow that feel of kitchen sink, small town romance are also very reminiscent of fellow Sheffield lad Richard Hawley.
I don’t like Arctic Monkeys one bit, and though I think I should quite like Last Shadow Puppets I’m not all that fussed about them to be honest. So someone, somewhere down the line may accuse me of rampant hypocrisy / idiocy / cloth ears when I say that, of what I know of Alex Turner’s work, the tracks he’s written for this mini LP/EP seem to be the most appealing and subtle he’s done.
The six songs are written for a film called Submarine, which I learn (from listening to reputable critic and brilliant writer Iain Sinclair on BBC Radio 4) is pretentiousness personified. Doubtless highbrow disdain from the likes of Mr Sinclair will not affect the film being a massive success, but I’m not here to write about films. What I can say is tracks like Glass in the Park and It’s Hard to Get Around the Wind are typical dreamer’s laments with a hint of soulfulness that only seems to be conjured from bands hailing from Industrial British cities. It’s Hard… for example, has the feel of a Michael Head composition, albeit without the Scouse mysticism. Talking of Northern poets, the tracks on Submarine, infused as they are with melancholy, weepy chords and muted delivery allow that feel of kitchen sink, small town romance are also very reminiscent of fellow Sheffield lad Richard Hawley.
Stuck on the Puzzle has that patient, Beatles/Britpop-style plod about it and could be a big hit. Further melancholy nostalgia is presented with the last track, Piledriver Waltz, a weepy which nevertheless has enough steel in its backbone to keep any schmaltz in check.
Pleasantly surprised.