Long Blondes, The – Couples
The second album is starting to become one of my favorites. This stage is always a make or break time for the band and they usually either give you something different or just keep on with the winning formula. The Long Blondes chose the path less traveled by completely changing their sound for this record. Gone are the beautiful melodies of Giddy Stratosphere” and in comes the avant-garde, disco and everything else you can shake a stick at. There might be one song on here that could be remotely linked to the Blondes debut album. Now, all this change does not necessarily lead to great songs and on this album there are some growing pains but when it works the payoff is rather tasty.
The album is a clean ten songs which do go down surprisingly well. When, you are trying to do something different and get people to follow you it is always best to keep it as fast and crisp as possible in my mind. The album starts off with first single “Century.” The song starts off with this weird keyboard and vocal bit for the first minute and this is a great example of where a radio edit on the album of would of helped. The song really gets shaking at the presences of the big bass line. The rhythm is straight up and out of the 70s. I can picture the disco ball and the odd color combinations going on right now and it just made sense. This stab at “nu-disco” (I hope I just coined a phrase) comes off sounding amazing at times. I do love when it when the tracks breaks down into the hyper-techno freak out. This song is one of the most chaotic songs of the year. “Guilt” keeps the pace of the album going smoothly with something a little tame. Yet, it stills maintains the 70s disco combined with some indie pop credentials. “The Couples” is completely forgettable. But, “I Liked The Boys” outside of the stupid title has that lo-fi quality to it that reminds you of some of the bands earlier singles. There is not much sheen, but a lot of messy guitars give it a proper indie feel.
The album does finish with two unbearable tracks in “Nostalgia” and “I’m Going To Hell.” They are both riddled with forgettable melodies and child-like lyrics. “Too Clever By Half” has these really sensual vocals by Kate Jackson. She sings in this high and whiskery tone and it comes well with a great rhythm section.
The album is a tough listen and really may not be for everyone. The first seven songs or so are really strong and had me really into it but it trailed off so poorly at the end. I know bands feel they need the “slow” songs but I think in this case leaving one of them off and going for the nine track album. A bold move yes but I think it could of helped the flow of the album. At least the worst of the album is at the end. The album will get a lot of people talking and that always is a good thing. The album and its new sound will shock and surprise people and get them talking and that could only be good for the band.
By John Siwicki
