The Last Shadow Puppets
Everything You've Come To Expect

Eight years.

The dynamic duo composed of Alex Turner, now the former enfant prodige of British rock leading his Arctic Monkeys, and Miles Kane, a thirty-something singer-songwriter who, after the false start with the project The Rascals, found his definitive consecration with two solid solo albums (and collaborations with the likes of Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller, certainly not just anyone off the street), returns to the The Last Shadow Puppets project and releases the highly anticipated follow-up to their stunning debut published in 2008, naming it "Everything You've Come To Expect." The cover photo is splendid, a shot of Tina Turner from the late '60s.

The paths of these two former enfant terribles from across the Channel are quite different. If Turner, with the complicity of ever-more-masterous Josh Homme, has shifted the focus of his original band from the foggy London suburbs to the heat of Californian summers, Miles Kane has meanwhile decided to recover the beloved rattling guitars to breathe new life into a genre, Brit rock, which had started dangerously stagnating. Both cite Isaac Hayes and Style Council as major influences for this new batch of tracks, distancing themselves from the Scott Walker of their debut.

What does this second encounter lead to, then? All things considered, compared to the debut, the approach is more about subtraction than addition. Yes, Owen Pallett's string arrangements are there but, instead of aiming for epicness and magnificent grandiosity, they work more functionally within the structure of the tracks, blending and becoming one with the typical sound of the British duo.

"Aviation," opener and third single from the album, takes off rapidly and is already one of the most convincing tracks of the set: the pace is sustained, the melody perfectly assimilable and smooth, and the refrain is one of the best ever released by the band. A small instant classic poised to become a standout gem in the band's live shows. The following "Miracle Aligner" (also notable), along with "Sweet Dreams, TN" and "Pattern," reveals the more baroque soul of the two, and veers away from the epic charge of the debut to carve out a melody so composed in its perfection that it leaves one entranced.

Not everything, of course, is calm. There is also the storm, perfectly heralded by the lead single "Bad Habits," a psych delirium between frenzied strings and fragmented, irreverent vocals. A few short excursions into more garage territories ("Used To Be My Girl" and "She Does The Woods"), a magnificent dive into Beatlesque psychedelia in the title track, the engaging rhythm of "The Element of Surprise" and the refined elegance of "Dracula Teeth" complete the picture. Not forgetting the delightful closer "The Dream Synopsis," a small heir to "No. 1 Party Anthem" from "AM" by the "Arctic monkeys."

No fillers, a great display of craftsmanship by the now-trusted producer James Ford (of Simian Mobile Disco) and a perfect balance between the voices of the two protagonists magnificently complete the picture.

A beautiful album, this "Everything…," perhaps a half-notch below the incredible debut (lacking a classic like "Standing Next To Me," perhaps) but still the best possible heir to that raw gem of dazzling beauty.

Best track: Everything You've Come To Expect