Tuesday 11/03/08 The Long Blondes @ The Amersham Arms, London

The inescapable amorous atmosphere stifling those in the Amersham Arms tonight could be due to The Long Blondes performing tracks from ‘Couples’, their second album and its evocative lyrics that monopolise the subsequent set. Yet, this sentimental air could also be attributed to the fact that the majority of the sparse numbers of men in the room supporting the Sheffield quintet are entwined with some of the countless women who eagerly whoop applause as the band take to the stage.

Though the Long Blondes have adopted a stripped-back approach for this intimate show, theatrics are present with singer Kate Jackson exuding glamour as her voice soars to dizzy heights in new single, ‘Century’. The album’s title track ‘Couples’ needs little introduction and the crowd offer reassurance with indecipherable murmured accompaniments. During the pauses between songs, the band are inundated with increasing demands for renowned love-angst anthem, ‘Once and Never Again’ - a request that is never acknowledged as the new tracks keep-a-coming, throughout the set.

Despite striking pop melodies, and a thick pulsing bass, it’s all about Kate as the other four members of the band become a musical backdrop. It’s a seemingly unintentional usurping, due to the humble manner in which she parades about the stage in her trademark pencil skirt and leans in to the crowd for each elongated note. Her bitter-sweet vocals are propelled with such a force they could puncture the eardrums of all in the neighbourhood, as she evokes the image of the very female icons she sings about, particularly in ‘Lust In The Movies’. The sentiments turn sour with the acidic tones in femme-fatale homage and set finale, ‘Giddy Stratospheres', and although it offers a subtle but triumphant end to the night, there is a general notion that something is amiss - perhaps it was just that song.