The Long Blondes: Someone To Drive You Home
How does the Long Blondes' debut album measure up?
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Friday, 10, Nov 2006 12:02
Rough Trade, November 6th .
In a nutshell...
Sexy, Sassy, Chic, Individualistic, Poppy
What's it all about?
Someone To Drive You Home is the long awaited debut album from the Long Blondes. It's taken them a fair while, with some shabby ad-hoc performances in libraries and shop fronts raising the band's profile, but doing little to improve their performances. However, this record finally lives up to the hype and expectations that Kate Jackson and co have generated. Lust In The Movies, one of the first tracks ever released by the band, is given a revamp complete with serious feedback and a louder guitar backdrop.
Jackson's vocals shine through as ever, with her characteristic shrill generating a cheerful tone to the most serious of songs. Happily, the singles aren't the only songs that stand out. Only Lovers Left Alive and Heaven Help The New World show that Dorian Cox can craft great pop tunes, time after time. The lyrics are harsher than they appear, Once And Never again has serious connotations of 19-year-olds, knifes and slashed arms. The Long Blondes seem to be the kind of band that most teenage girls have been waiting for. They pack a punch that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs seemed to have bought a patent on and they connect with middle England. This could quite easily be the best pop record of the year.
Who's it by?
The Long Blondes seem to have been around for a long while, with Lust In The Movies creating a stir when the Arctic Monkeys were just finishing their GCSEs. Guitarist Dorian Cox writes the majority of the band's material, and singer Kate Jackson provides the looks and the voice to front the swish and chic tunes that the band generates. NME was quick to jump on the bandwagon, wavering only slightly during the band's not so assured live performances, before they saw the opportunity to link them in to the dying Britpop scene.
It's the music press' chief preoccupation to continuously compare new bands to the past, and they seem to have brought together the Monkeys, the Kaiser Chiefs, and the Long Blondes as the new triumvirate to continue the legacy of Oasis, Blur and Pulp. Most of this is complete nonsense, but the Long Blondes have that genuine intelligence to finally break into the music scene, just as Pulp did in the nineties.
As an example.
"A svelte young man/Eighteen lovers to his name/Well if the rumours are true/Then eighteen lovers came running back again." Lust In The Movies was always the landmark vocal that Kate Jackson has since perfected, and the new album version takes this up another notch.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
The Long Blondes have already walked away with an NME award and more are likely as time goes on. Look out for Kate Jackson being crowned number one in the imminent NME cool list.
What the others say
"Only a fool would argue that Kate Jackson isn't the coolest pop star around right now." NME
So is it any good?
The strength of the Long Blondes' already comprehensive 'singles collection' made this album a realistic bet for being great. Lust In The Movies blends innovative and well delivered lyrics with a monstrous chorus and Once And Never Again must be a contender for indie track of the year. Weekend Without Makeup sounds like a long lost song from a bygone era, but is all the better for it when coupled with band's image. "There are wants and there are needs/And they are two very different things," showcases the bands ability to jump from conversational lyrics to tuneful and melodious choruses.
The Long Blondes are remarkably well packaged for a band that have never seemed to be in much of a rush to get signed. Rough Trade can feel well and truly chuffed to have snapped them up, and you can't help but feel they can move forward from this record. Only Lovers Left Alive and Madame Ray prove that this band aren't a multi-hit wonder and Giddy Stratospheres reveals a softer and more intricate side. Someone To Drive You Home is a highly impressive debut and one that will garter them a huge number of devoted followers.
8/10
Karl Pike