Saturday 07/10/06 The Long Blondes, 1990s @ Northumbria Stage 2, Newcastle

After all the hype, then what?  The Long Blondes may be, or have been, the epitome of cool and the best and biggest unsigned band in Britain for what seemed like millennia but all that's now gone.  And while they did eventually sign to the rejuvenated Rough Trade, the question remains: can Kate Jackson's five piece live up to the frenzied A&R promise of their early history?  It may be a big ask but, barring a few reasonably catchy tunes, it's equally likely that The Long Blondes could turn out to be nothing more than the new Sleeper.

Luckily, for them, tonight's support act 1990s have none of those concerns - they're as perennially uncool as their gangly Scottish awkwardness suggests.  Clearly more happy rifling through a 1970s issue of Rolling Stone than being plastered over the cover of the music weeklies, they play a gloriously unfashionable mix of The Modern Lovers, hip-shaking Stones-isms and underachieving Central Belt art-school jangle.  In case you ever doubted it, it's hip to be square - it just might not look pretty.

The audience, though, have no such problem.  By the time Kate Jackson and Co. hit the stage, the crowd's whipped up into as much of a frenzy as a bunch of over-earnest hipsters can muster. The hall is transformed into a heaving sea of polka dot dresses, most of whom seem to have bought wholesale into The Long Blondes/Pipettes axis with never a second thought.  But for all their swiftly appropriated fashion statements and easy name-checks, there comes a time for The Long Blondes to put up or shut up.  And they do, sort of.  The likes of ‘Giddy Stratospheres’ and ‘Once And Never Again’ are undeniably foot tapping, no-brainer crowd-pleasers, but you suspect this lot would lap up any old scraps provided they sported a beret and IPC's stamp of approval.  Never quite as clever as you suspect they think they are, The Long Blondes may be heading straight for the pop charts but critically they've got some way to go.