The long blondes someone to drive you home 320kbps

So let’s sidestep what could have been on the record and concentrate on the 11 tracks here.įirstly, and unlike the Monkeys’ debut, this is music made for the outsider – designed as much for dreamers as it is for the dancefloor. But caught between pleasing the ‘I saw ’em first’ purists and the people who’ve not heard The Long Blondes yet, the band couldn’t really win. Other oldies have been left off – and you’ll no doubt hear the arguments (“What, no ‘Autonomy Boy’?”) raging for months. Best of all is the new version of ‘Separated By Motorways’, in which Kate Jackon’s opening wail has developed into a feral shriek so piercing it’s only audible to Border Collies. These might be classy, literate indie-pop songs but The Long Blondes have sharpened their fangs. Opening pair ‘Lust In The Movies’ and ‘Once And Never Again’ (both souped-up versions) rocket from the speakers in a haze of squalling guitar feedback and heart-palpitation drums. Thrillingly, that’s just not the case here. What’s so often the case with records that have been festering for so long in the pipeline is that the band fail to capture the energy and excitement of their early demos. NME albums editors have spawned great grandchildren in the time it’s taken for them to quit their jobs as librarians, sign a record deal and release ‘Someone To Drive You Home’. When NME first got excited about The Long Blondes, William, Duke Of Normandy was still putting the finishing touches to his invasion plans. And this debut album will take you far away, into a world of faded ’50s icons, faux-glamour and bedsit romance.

Alex Turner might have had the poetic flair to document the Steel City’s streets with a sparkling wit, but we don’t always want to be reminded about the time we lost a tooth in the taxi queue. No wonder, then, that Sheffield’s other finest band, The Long Blondes, are offering an escape from it all. In fact, life can be pretty rubbish full stop, what with nuclear war, civil rights infringements and a Captain UK tour all on the horizon. Great.īut where to escape to? After all, life down south is pretty grim, too.

If you’re not slipping on a pile of kebab vomit or getting glassed at the Ritzy disco, then you’re watching your childhood sweetheart get groped by the guy who just glassed you and puked their kebab up on your shoes. So, you’ve spun ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not…’ until your iPod’s reached meltdown and you’ve come to one conclusion: life up north is pretty grim.

The long blondes someone to drive you home 320kbps