The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home

The Long Blondes – Someone To Drive You Home

Chris George

After just over a year The Long Blondes have carved out quite a reputation for themselves plus a loyal fan base to boot, and they’ve only been signed for seven months. With good reason too – Britain’s sexiest band are also damn exciting. But when these kinds of art-rock upstarts have only really put out a couple of seven-inches, one sometimes wonders whether they can actually hold their own within a cohesive album. Well, can they?

Ask a rhetorical question and you’ll get an obvious answer…

“Someone to Drive You Home” sways from heartbreak, jealousy and upbeat dance-floor blinders, often within the same song. Their lyrics take romanticism and elements of down-to-Earth Yorkshire life, adding a charming bohemian retro veneer in a Strokes-meets-Arctic-Monkeys style, but they’re also emotional and openly vulnerable.

Some indie bands suffer in production (can we say “Room On Fire”, class?) but The Long Blondes’ sound is fully intact, super-charged and raring to go. They’ve hit a nice balance where things sound full and cleaner, but not sanitised – it’s still got a nice rough-around-the-edges quality but doesn’t pretend to be recorded on an aged four-track in a grotty back-stage toilet cubicle. Sounding like a ‘70s punk band playing ‘60s pop rock, the guitars have a jagged twang, the bass is strong and the drum-beats pump away as lead singer Kate Jackson belts out her lovely vocals with gusto and allure. It really does sound very good indeed.

It’s not the most original record you’ve ever heard, but it’s still bloody great – sassy, catchy and irresistible; Sheffield’s answer to Blondie have recorded one of the best rock & roll albums of 2006.