770 The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home (2006)

 770 The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home (2006)

Studio Album - Pop Punk



About the Act:

The Long Blondes are from Sheffield. They are not blondes, and they don't look particularly long. Of the five of them, three are female. They were active from 2003 to 2008 and squeezed out a couple of albums in that time.

About the Album:

This was their first album.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

This was my first experience of this band. As I often do, I listened "blind" first, and thought they were American. They have a kind of American sound. Also, WIkipedia has then down as Indie Rock, but I would classify them as Pop Punk. Justification: they remind me of No Doubt crossed with Blondie, and then maybe with some more raw rockiness thrown in, like Souixie and the Banshees. They sound punk, but they don't dress punk, and the margins of difference between some of these styles are thinner than the hair on the back of my head.

So, musically, it's kind of raw and edgy, but kind of poppy at the same time. Bags of energy, I bet they were great live. Solid performance, not flashy, but varied and strong. Very acceptable. If you have glanced at the bottom you will have seen a 7.5 mark, and if you think that from the comments so far that seems unjustified, you would be right, but I have not yet talked about the songs.

Mostly female led, and about life, love, frustration and rivalry from a female perspective (but written by one of the guys), there is a Jarvis Cocker-like sophistication to them, drawing pictures, leading one way then dipping another, strong and sassy and a times a little bitter. My favourite song was You Could Have Both, and especially the spoken bit. There's quite a lot to dig into here, as you get used to voice and the words become clearer.

7.5/10

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/25JRQfvz1s80BE1cYjK4Pp

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kX6tf-YYqGGDY4pyx4T6ixQM4pb0Wuq44

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Someone_to_Drive_You_Home



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