The Long Blondes, Someone To Drive You Home

The Long BlondesSomeone To Drive Your Home Rought Trade Six out of ten starsYou can’t listen to The Long Blondes without thinking about the past: Their edgy, hooky sound falls somewhere between punk, post punk and new wave. And their front woman is clearly enamored by the likes of Debbie Harry, Nico, Edie Sedgwick and Nancy Sinatra. Seems the British, punkish five-piece are smitten by retro/counter culture—and all the trashy, sexy sass therein—and totally unashamed to pick through its wild history, digging out what they like best. The Long Blondes’ debut album Someone To Drive You Home reveals little that is groundbreaking yet demonstrates—by imprinting an old sound with a new pout-y lipped face—how a punk band in 2007 can still be a whole lot of hook-filled fun. Made up of lead singer/guitarist Kate Jackson, second guitarist Dorian Cox, bassist Emma Chaplin and drummer Screech Louder, The Long Blondes use a blueprint for making music that is as old as rock ‘n’ roll (a few chords and a great beat) and then dress it up with a characteristic sense of retro style and femme fatale personality. Subject-wise, much of Someone To Drive You Home feels like being subject to advice from your friend’s cooler older sister, who knew things you didn’t, who’d been to places you hadn’t and who had lived a hell of a lot more than you, so you better listen up. “Nineteen, you’re only 19, for God sakes, you don’t need a boyfriend,” Jackson sings on “Once And Never Again”, her voice shaking as if she wants to shake you. “I know how it feels to be your age and feel the world is caving in,” she later adds, her sensual vocals sinks as riffs are plucked up ska-style behind her. “I could show you a thing or two, yes I could show you the ropes.” Certainly she could be advising a younger sister or friend. But later it seems more likely she’s talking to a younger version of herself, releasing frustrations for a time she can’t reverse and letting go of regret through expression in an album that deals mostly with personal relationship struggles. Or, it could just be pure fiction, made-up gossipy talk; heartbreak stories perfect for a collection of snappy pop songs. Your call. At times you hear ‘60s girl groups and Blondie, other times it’s Sleater-Kinney and Franz Ferdinand. But overall, it’s just five people from Sheffield, England who came together in 2005 to have a heck of a time making noise and spouting off lines like, “I don’t like giving you the third degree, I just want what’s due to me” (“Weekend Without Makeup”) and “Go home with her one more time and you know you’ll be history” (“Giddy Stratosphere”) atop handclaps, tambourine shakes, funky bass lines and catchy guitar licks. Someone To Drive You Home is an impassioned and sultry collection of jingle jangle punk you can sit next to, you can dance to or you can drive home and sing to. It’s all been done before. But when it’s this much fun, it’s all worth doing again. The Long Blondes released a split 7” with The Boyfriends called "Autonomy Boy"/"Long Blonde" in 2005, following it with a handful of singles for Angular Records and Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation in 2006 and, shortly thereafter, won the NME Philip Hall Radar Award, which led to an offer from Rough Trade a few months later.