Track Listing

1. Lust In The Movies
2. Once And Never Again
3. Only Lovers Left Alive
4. Giddy Stratospheres
5. In The Company Of Women
6. Heaven Help The New Girl
7. Separated By Motorways
8. You Could Have Birth
9. Swallow Tattoo
10. Weekend Without Makeup
11. Madame Ray
12. Knife For The Girls

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27070 in Music
• Released on: 2006-11-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Long Blondes have certainly produced one of the most stylish of indie albums with their debut, Someone to Drive You Home. Sure, they're signed to legendary indie label Rough Trade, but at their heart, the Long Blondes are a great pop band. Even if her voice isn't the strongest, Frontwoman Kate Jackson is one rock's coolest leading ladies since Blondie's Deborah Harry, and she manages to pitch the balance just right between coquettish sex kitten and strong-willed modern woman. It's no mean feat, but just listen to her deliver the chorus "You're only nineteen for god's sake, you don't need a boyfriend," on "Once and Never Again", and you'll be convinced. Of course, much of the credit should go to lyricist Dorian Cox, who wrote all but two of the tracks here, and manages, much like Jarvis Cocker, to sound literate without becoming too pretentious. And the band themselves, who wrote the music and are responsible for keeping things light and catchy, and preventing the songs from turning into a shambolic mess. At its best, Someone to Drive You Home is full of jangly guitars and danceable energy, like on "Lust in the Movies" and the Jackson-penned "Madame Ray". The Long Blondes have written an album for the kids, but one with plenty of depth as well. It's like Pulp have arrived for a whole new generation. --Ted Kord

Album Description
They want to be as good as Abba. Seriously, it's not irony. As good at writing hit songs as Abba were. Yeah, they like Joy Division and all that, but not half as much as they like Dusty, disco and Del Shannon. Everybody's talking 'bout Pop Music. Everybody's talking 'bout the Long Blondes.

A quick recap, then.

The aim was to form a fantasy pop group: Nico, Nancy Sinatra, Diana Dors, Barbara Windsor. Sexy and literate, flippant and heartbreaking all at once. With this in mind, the Long Blondes went falling and laughing headlong into the glamorous world of heaving amps onto trains and applying eyeliner in National Express coach stations.

The first kindred spirit to notice the Long Blondes was hip south London independent label Angular Records. Through them, the band released a brace of exhilarating 45s; The Hitchcock-inspired Appropriation (By Any Other Name) and bona fide cult classic Giddy Stratospheres. Both have become indie dancefloor staples ever since, as has most recent release Separated By Motorways, recorded by uber-producer Paul Epworth (Futureheads, Bloc Party) at his request and released on his own Good and Evil label.

The band were leading double lives worthy of Harry Palmer for most of 2005, taking odd days off work to play in New York, Stockholm and Barcelona and signing autographs whilst their bosses weren't looking. Meanwhile, word was spreading and all three previous singles were capturing the hearts of pop music lovers all over the world. In December, the band were personally asked to support Franz Ferdinand at Alexandra Palace - A fittingly flamboyant way to end the year.

They kicked off 2006 as recipients of the NME Philip Hall Radar Award (previously won by Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs) and played to increasingly frenzied crowds as everyone from the Guardian to Vogue proclaimed the Long Blondes to be the Best Unsigned Band In The Country. The band blushed at such proclamations but, frankly, even the best unsigned bands have to be at the office by nine. Surely Marlene Dietrich never had to work overtime? Even in these less than productive conditions, the Long Blondes spurned the advances of many inappropriate suitors until the right one came along. And it came along alright. In April - almost three years to the day of their incarnation - the Long Blondes signed to the legendary Rough Trade records. The label that brought the world the Smiths, the Strokes and the Libertines had done it again!

The band have recorded their debut album 'Someone To Drive You Home' with Steve Mackey (Pulp, MIA), set for release 6th November, proceeded by their next single, Once And Never Again (with B-sides produced by Erol Alkan). To promote the release The Long Blondes will be performing their first headline UK tour (with support from The 1990s), calling at various venues nationwide throughout October.

So that's them; Sardonic style icon and protagonist-in-chief Kate Jackson, guitarist Dorian Cox, bassist Reenie Hollis, keyboardist Emma Chaplin and drummer Screech. The next chapter of Sheffield's idiosyncratic musical heritage: The suburban disco fantasies of the Human League, the opulent ridiculousness of ABC, the seedy glamour of Pulp Truly a Carry On cast's worth of characters all with loves, hates and passions just like yours. It's a Blonde, Blonde, Blonde, Blonde world. Now just lie back and enjoy it.

Customer Reviews

LUST IN THE NOUGHTIES
This first album from the LBs-longawaited and anticipated-does not disappoint.Kate Jackson,stylish recipient of a coveted Sexiest Woman Award at the NME Shockwaves Awards in February this year,is a star in the making. She preens,sings intelligently,soaringly and with sweet irony on every track listed on this album.
The opener has Kate singing a la Dietrich,fronting a bouncy beat,neurotic jangly guitars and an irresistable chorus featuring three tragic female icons' names shouted/sung loudly and obsessively.These catch the listeners'ears straight away. We feel for Kate in this song,which rattles along at a fast pace,but never really finds a satisfactory conclusion.
A beseeching Kate in the final bars of this song makes it sophisticated art-pop at its best.
There are twelve songs on this album,of which "Once And Never Again" and "Madame Ray"(about Man Ray's muse and lover,Lee Miller)are my favourite tracks.The first-mentioned song starts with Kate giving her worldly advice to a young girl.."Nineteen,you're only nineteen for God's sake-you don't need a boyfriend",and ending "Oh how I'd love to feel a girl your age-your age....once and never again," suprising the listener with this
twist in the last line.We smile at the words.I found myself whistling this irresistably catchy one at odd moments throughout the day.
"I know all about fear and desire",sings Kate knowingly in the aforementioned "Lust In The Movies."
"Only Lovers Left Alive"is delicious to listen to,and will make you smile,like sweet Turkish delight.Listen up!
Shades of The Pipettes in "Giddy Stratospheres"question and answer section,an indie Phil Spectorish touch which works surprisingly well.
The whole album has sensuous,urgent and painful overtones to its songs.
Referring again to "Madame Ray",I believe this is the most emotive song on the album.The last track"A Knife For The Girls",with its last two lines,"My baby doll........don't go to London" contain acidic bitterness to end this remarkable debut album from The Long Blondes.
A must-buy.

Music For Sweethearts
Edie Sedgwick!Anna Karenina!Arlene Dahl! I just want to be a sweetheart!

The second you hear the first chorus of opener "Lust In The Movies", you can tell that The Long Blondes are a band that miss the 60's and want to bring a little bit of glamour and fashion back into the indie genre of music. And the first chorus is one of the best chorus' I've heard all year.
I'll be blunt with you, I couldn't stand the Long Blondes before I heard this album. I'd heard a demo of the song "Once and Never Again" and it annoyed me a lot. I also didn't like the general persona of the band, but I think in truth, they're in it for the music. Another good thing is that the album version of "Once And Never Again" is a lot more impressive, less annoying, less tedious, and overall an exciting track.
But those aren't the only positives you can take out of this album. The main thing that stands out is the charisma of Kate Jackson, she knows that she's got something special and she reaches the notes that some would deem to be impossible (see: Seperated by Motorways). She should have topped the NME cool list.
Every song is about love, relationships, idolism,and fun, the word that sums the album up into a nutshell. Fun.
"Lust In The Movies" is the perfect opener. Energetic, ecsatic, exhilirating, over the top, stunning, every positive adjective that you could think of.
"Giddy Statospheres" shows the band taking a more 80's synth route, this 5 minute wonder grabs the listener by the throat and screams potential at them. The Long Blondes could be around for a long time. Whether you like it or not. "You Could Have Both" is a gripping affair, with a chorus on one single note somehow becoming so similar to the most infectious pop that is around today. Jackson wisely sings "I don't kid myself about happy endings, I'm too old for that now".
"Someone To Drive You Home". It's a personal album. It's a gospel. It's a manifesto for youngsters. It's one of the best albums of the year.

A refreshing change
I disagree with those reviews that describe The Long Blondes as unoriginal. I'm a fan of Indie music in general, but there are an awful lot of similar-sounding bands around at the moment and Someone To Drive You Home really stands out for me.
Kate Jackson's voice is very striking and lends an even darker tone to the wonderfully barbed lyrics. The songs very much from a female perspective, which may not appeal to everyone, but for me it's a refreshing change from the abundance of male-fronted Indie bands around right now.