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The Long Blondes - "Couples"
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Expectations of Sheffield’s The Long Blondes were pegged unrealistically high on the release of 2006’s debut album Someone To Drive You Home. A group featuring three girls - including glamorous singer Kate Jackson doing a pretty good job of impersonating Debbie Harry - was always going to get critics salivating. Sharp styles, garage rock principles and savvy pop nous – they couldn’t have been further from the latest Coldplay clones.
Despite a couple of decent singles, though, it lacked the cutting edge they had threatened. Could it have been down to the slightly dowdy production of Pulp bassist Steve Mackey? As if acknowledging this possibility they’ve drafted in DJ and remix specialist Erol Alkan (Klaxons and Hot Chip), to add a disco sparkle to their angular guitars and big basslines. So does it work? Well, yes and no.
Things start off well enough with the Blondie-aping ‘Century’ – in fact it’s cleverer than that as Jackson yells out “White! Black!”, and dark synths spin off in unexpected directions. ‘Round The Hairpin’ is a similarly thrilling ride: Jackson whispers about speeding in rented cars to a woozy synthesised backdrop while blasts of white noise spit out and it feels like you’re stuck in a tunnel, choking on some nasty exhaust fumes. It’s, um, toxic stuff. ‘Too Clever By Half’ sees Jackson putting out an old flame to a stately lo-fi rhythm and it’s beguiling stuff. Elsewhere, though, there’s some pretty bland old school garage rock on display: ‘Erin O’Connor’ chunters along looking desperately for a tune while ‘The Couples’ sounds like Britpop reincarnated.
There’s plenty here to suggest that someday soon The Long Blondes will fulfil that early expectation. For now, we’ll treat this as a significant work in progress.
Chris Nye-Browne
