The Long Blondes- 'Someone To Drive You Home' (Rough Trade) Released 06/11/06

Hotly tipped for months The Long Blondes have finally delivered their debut LP, so will the hype be translated into something worth the wait or is ‘Someone To Drive You Home’ a waste of time, space and hours spent trawling the high street for berets and scarves.

A scream of feedback and then drums, enter a bassline and we have the starts to ‘Lust In The Movies’. Lead singer Kate Jackson enters with sultry vocals, “A svelte young man, eighteen lovers to his name”, an ode to Edie Sedgwick and other 60’s icons, typical of The Long Blondes tales of urban antiquated romance. Direct, alluring and effortlessly cool this is unmistakably The Long Blondes and the perfect introduction to ‘Someone To Drive You Home’. Next comes ‘Once And Never Again’ a jangly and effervescent track with a chorus that is guaranteed to get stuck in your head for days. Back this up with the classic in waiting ‘Giddy Stratospheres’ and dark post apocalyptic ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ and we are looking at as good a start to any album we have heard all year.

The Long Blondes fill dancefloors and ‘Separated By Motorways’ should be encased behind glass for all DJ’s to break in case of an emergency such is its intense urgency and massive chorus.  But is there more to The Long Blondes than just brilliant but essentially hollow indie dance tunes? In short the answer is yes. ‘In The Company Of Women’ boasts an ethereal and haunting vocal from Kate Jackson whilst ‘Heaven Help The New Girl’ is the mid set lighter waver that all bands secretly crave, many a tear will be shed over this song. The pace is soon picked up however by ‘You Could Have Both’ that boats a spoken word duet that is far from cringe worthy, an obvious nod to the bands icon Jarvis Cocker it really elevates the track and gives the album a sense of class and resonance.

OK so it’s a great album but it isn’t perfect, Jackson’s voice is an issue throughout. Whilst not quintessentially beautiful it has a definite charm, whether you succumb to this charm is not so definite. The low notes and the verses suit Jackson’s range to a T however the strains show to an extent on the high pitched choruses, particularly on previous single ‘Weekend Without Makeup’ and ‘A Knife For The Girls’ which may have you itching for the skip button. Having said this it really is a minor criticism more in aid of a balanced review than a genuine grievance with the album.

Producer Steve Mackay has done a brilliant job of bringing out the sentiment and emotion in The Long Blondes tracks whilst also giving them a pop sheen Kylie Minogue would be proud of. The difference between the slow and fast songs does not seem like such a gulf as ‘Someone To Drive You Home’ is a body of work to admire and cherish, a real master class in song writing. The Long Blondes have transcended the initial hype and delivered an album of pure brilliance, making the ordinary seem extraordinary and the mundane romantic. Combining the classic British eloquent poise of Pulp with the glam pop sensibilities of David Bowie ‘Someone To Drive You Home’ is one to cherish and hold close to your hearts. Who would have thought the best album to come out of Sheffield this year wouldn’t belong to Alex Turner?