The Long Blondes
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| The Long Blondes | |
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.jpg/220px-The_Long_Blondes_(celticblade).jpg) The Long Blondes at Summer Sundae in Leicester, August 2006
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Sheffield, England |
| Genre(s) | Indie rock Indie pop |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Label(s) | Rough Trade |
| Website | thelongblondes.co.uk |
| Members | |
| Kate Jackson Dorian Cox Reenie Hollis Emma Chaplin Screech Louder |
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The Long Blondes are a 5-piece English indie rock band from Sheffield. The band is known not just for their music, but also their "glamorous punk" image. Front-woman Kate Jackson was featured in The Guardian's style section and the NME cool list, moving from 39 in 2005 to 7 in 2006. When questioned about her place in the first NME list by The Guardian, Jackson remarked "Probably because they didn't have enough girls. It was so overrun with boring boys, they needed someone to bring a touch of glamour."[1]
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[edit] Band members
- Dorian Cox – lead guitar and keyboards
- Reenie Hollis – bass guitar and backing vocals
- Emma Chaplin – rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocals
- Kate Jackson – lead vocals
- Screech Louder (real name Mark Turvey) [2] – drums
[edit] Style
The Long Blondes' songs reflect a number of influences, including 60s pop, Buzzcocks, The Ramones, post-punk and new wave. Traces of work by another Sheffield band, Pulp can also be seen in their recordings, their debut album was indeed produced by Steve Mackey, bassist of Pulp. The prominence of these various influences varies from song to song. Jackson's vocals have been compared to Ari Up of The Slits, Deborah Harry of Blondie and those of Au Pairs. Dorian Cox's backing vocals are also very similar to those of former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker. The music features angular guitars and prominent bass guitar lines. However, the band themselves claim somewhat more eclectic influences than their sound suggests, citing Burt Bacharach, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Chinn and Chapman, and Stock, Aitken and Waterman as influences. The band gained notoriety early on in their career for their bold proclamation "We do not listen to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors or Bob Dylan. We chose an instrument each and learnt to play it." This quote was first published on their website, and is a comment on the derivative nature of the contemporary music scene rather than a criticism of the aforementioned artists.[3]
Many of The Long Blondes' lyrics detail everyday life and relationships. The lyrics to "Once and Never Again" are thought to have lesbian undertones, with lines such as "I'd cut my hair for you" and "How I'd love to feel a girl your age".[4] "You Could Have Both" namechecks Scott Walker and also alludes to the Morrisey song "My Love Life" in the like "And who was it who sang, I know that you love one, so why can't you love two?"[5] "Lust In The Movies" mentions acrtresses Edie Sedgwick, Arlene Dahl and Anna Karina. The second album "Couples" has a song named "Erin O'Connor" after the model (see Erin O'Connor).
[edit] Career
[edit] Someone To Drive You Home
On April 13, 2006 they signed to Rough Trade Records[6] and recorded their debut album, Someone to Drive You Home over the summer ready for its release on November 6. The album was produced by former Pulp bassist Steve Mackey. The album was preceded by their second single for the label, "Once and Never Again", which was released on October 23 and debuted at number 30 in the UK singles chart[7]. In June 2006, they released their first single for the label, "Weekend Without Makeup", which reached number 28. They appeared at a number of UK festivals over summer 2006, including the Carling Weekend, Leicester's Summer Sundae and Ireland's Electric Picnic. In 2007, they performed live at the Radar live festival in Istanbul on July 2.
[edit] "Couples"
In October 2007, the blondes started working on their second album with producer Erol Alkan in London. On December 19, 2007, it was announced that the new album's title would be "Couples". The album was released on April 7, 2008, preceded by the first single from the album 'Century' which was released on March 24, 2008. [8]
[edit] Side Projects
Reenie and Screech have a side band called The Bon Bon Club [9]. Their debut single features three cover versions - Lullaby by The Cure, Love Is Blind by Pulp and Romantic Rights by Death From Above 1979. It will be released through Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation on the 23rd of June [10]. The 7" single will be limited to 500 copies.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
- Someone to Drive You Home (2006, Rough Trade) UK #44 (UK Indie #1)
- "Couples" (2008, Rough Trade) UK #48 (UK Indie #2)
[edit] Singles
| Date | Single | Backed with | Record label | UK Chart position | Other details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2004 | "New Idols" | "Long Blonde" | Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation | Double A Side | |
| September 30, 2004 | "Autonomy Boy" | "Long Blonde" | Filthy Little Angels | Split 7" with The Boyfriends | |
| November 29, 2004 | "Giddy Stratospheres" | "Polly", "Darts" | Angular Recording Corporation | 7" single | |
| June 2005 | "Giddy Stratospheres" | "Polly", "Autonomy Boy", "Darts" | What's Your Rupture? | 12" EP | |
| June 13, 2005 | "Appropriation (By Any Other Name)" | "My Heart Is Out of Bounds", "Lust in the Movies" | Angular Recording Corporation | 83 | 7" and CD single |
| December 12, 2005 | "Separated By Motorways" | "Big Infatuation" | Good and Evil Records | 7" single | |
| June 26, 2006 | "Weekend Without Makeup" | "Fulwood Babylon", "Platitudes", "Last Night At Northgate Street" | Rough Trade Records | 28 | 2X7" and CD single |
| October 23, 2006 | "Once And Never Again" | "Five Ways To End It", "The Whippet Fancier", "Who Are You To Her?" | Rough Trade Records | 30 | 2X7" and CD single |
| February 5, 2007 | "Giddy Stratospheres" | "All Bar One Girls", "Never To Be Repeated", "I'm Coping" | Rough Trade Records | 37 |
2X7" and CD single |
| March 24, 2008 | "Century" | "The Unbearable Lightness of Buildings" | Rough Trade Records | 7" single and download | |
| June 30, 2008 | "Guilt" | - | Rough Trade Records | - |
[edit] References
- ^ Fox, Imogen (2005-19-12). Kate Jackson, The Long Blondes. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2006-10-25.
- ^ Drummer's year in the spotlight. Stourbridge News (2006-21-12). Retrieved on 2007-04-05.
- ^ YouTube - The Long Blondes, Oxide Overdrive chat (part 1) October 2006
- ^ The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home | album reviews | musicOMH.com
- ^ http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Morrissey/My-Love-Life.html
- ^ The Long Blondes sign record deal | News | NME.COM
- ^ The Long Blondes name debut album | News | NME.COM
- ^ The Long Blondes | Official Site | Latest Long Blonde News
- ^ http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=251736622
- ^ http://www.heychuck.com/theespc/index.html
[edit] External links
[edit] Interviews
- Kate Jackson, The Long Blondes The Guardian, December 19, 2005
- The Long Blondes Interview - Plan B magazine, June 2006
- The Long Blondes: Blondes have more fun Subculture magazine, October 2006
- Incendiary interview The Long Blondes Incendiary Mag, November 2007
- Interview with Dorian from the Long Blondes God Is In The TV Zine May 2008
- June 2008 Interview with L.A. Record
[edit] Video
- PUNKCAST#773 Vid of Long Blondes @ Cake Shop NYC - June 22, 2005 (Realplayer, mp4)
