Music: The Long Blondes - Someone to Drive You Home

The Long Blondes
Someone to Drive You Home
[Guitar Pop / Indie]








Something that really irks me about modern British "indie" music is the prominence of substance over style. The seemingly endless procession of scrubbed-up, safe, mirror kissing rock and rollers has really hit a high point in 2006, and sadly looks set to continue. It is fair to say that, since the release of Silent Alarm in early 2005, only North American music has really mattered, seeing strong releases from Joanna Newsom, Sufjan Stevens, Animal Collective, The Decemberists, The Hold Steady, The New Pornographers, My Morning Jacket, Sleater-Kinney, Wolf Parade, Antony and the Johnsons, TV on the Radio...do I need to go on? Even Belle & Sebastian, traditionally one of the shining lights in British indie, served up an underwhelming effort with The Life Pursuit.

That said, it's even more annoying when my ingrained elitist preconceptions about British guitar bands are found to be fallible, as was recently the case with the Long Blondes. Sure, they attract innumerable scenesters, fit snugly in the NME and will be forgotten as quickly as they arrived, but their music displays qualities traditionally associated with good bands. Yes, really. Though singer Kate Jackson's shy introvert shtick is about as transparent as Larrikin Love's...well...everything, her strained Debbie Harry-style histrionics are pleasantly alluring. Some of the songs have irresistible hooks and, while shortlived, certainly leave an impression.

Someone to Drive You Home may not be the most sophisticated music you'll hear in years, but then the Long Blondes are not a sophisticated band. That said, on the odd occasion the band do attempt to break the mould, they are surprisingly successful. The one-two punch of "Swallow Tattoo" and "Weekend Without Makeup" provides the album's strongest sequence, and elsewhere "Giddy Stratospheres" and "Once & Never Again" feature soulful, believable vocals and strong melodies. What is noticeable on each of these songs is that, though playing pretty safe music, The Long Blondes are an extremely tight unit. Each instrument is clear and the sounds mesh together nicely without ever sounding over-produced or artificial.

Despite these four noticeable highs, however, The Long Blondes appear to be on auto-pilot for much of their debut. Many songs on Someone To Drive You Home are indistinguishable from one another, following the same structure, repetetively musing on the naivety of youth and sounding pretty much identical. Only the aforementioned "Weekend..." has lyrics of interest, with Jackson refusing to play the role of "some kind of 50s housewife" and heartily bitching about her man until the realisation hits: "I've got you, got you under my skin". Elsewhere, it's all boys, girls, lipstick and giddy-eyed romance. Snooze.

So, while Someone to Drive You Home may not be the indie masterpiece the British scene badly needs, it's a pleasant enough surprise to warrant a knowing wink of approval. Well done, chaps. 61