The Long Blondes Couples by: Liam Tracey Wed:14-May-08 Label: Rough Trade Year: 2008 WB rating 65 out of 100

2006’s Someone to Drive You Home was possibly one of the most underrated albums of that year. The debut from Sheffield five piece The Long Blondes was a collaboration of brilliantly catchy pop tunes that hardly faltered and provided countless replays and sing-alongs, yet somehow slipped under the radar when it came to labelling the year’s favourites. Perhaps the comparison between the debut and sophomore work can be best summed up by looking at the UK Indie charts, where they first reached number one – and rightly so – with Someone, while the follow up Couples couldn’t quite make it and peaked at number two. It’s true, “Couples” is the lesser in terms of sheer enjoyment, but it still manages to deliver and demonstrates the Long Blondes’ willingness to experiment with new directions.

The premise behind the songs on Couples is about as simple as Someone to Drive You Home, only there aren’t the linked stories here. The ever-so-sassy queen of chic Kate Jackson continues to sing about relationships: both her own and those of other around her. There’s tracks that tell of guilty affairs and dodgy couples – the latter somewhat setting the “theme” of the whole album – both of which are a refreshing aside from the more common love tales.

Jackson’s vocals are more experimental on this record and while maintaining the massive notes is still a vital part of her delivery, she opts to trial new approaches such as singing so high (‘Too Clever By Half’) that it sounds like whispering, as well as channelling Debbie Harry in ‘I’m Going to Hell’ and various other tracks.

Opener ‘Century’ is enough to scare the pants off any fan of the band, as immediately the fears will be running around in their minds: where’s the next ‘Giddy Stratospheres’ or ‘Separated By Motorways’? Never fear, the classic Long Blondes return shortly after the bizarre entry. The group seemingly ditched the classic rock and roll setup for their almost six minute introduction and opted to bring in the drone guitars and synthesizers, and lot of them. ‘Century’ is a number for the dance floor, not the rock club, with its repetitive lyrics and drone immediately setting the scene for something different. Then, as if it had never happened at all, ‘Guilt’ steps in and takes all the experimentation away.

‘Round the Hairpin’ returns to the repetitive nature of ‘Century’, but it moves well away from the upbeat nature of the rest of the band’s work and has an almost dark approach. ‘Nostalgia’ acts similarly, only it ditches the guitars for what appears to be the token ballad of the album. The addition of performance samples from the film No Sex Please, We’re British are the turning points or transitions between the different styles, but aside from their brief comic value they don’t really aid the progression.

While the alleged ex-librarians do their best at shaping something new on this record, the finest moments lie in the songs that sound like they came directly from the first LP. The bouncy hooks of the ironically titled ‘Here Comes the Serious Bit’ – which doesn’t sound in the slightest bit serious – get in your head and stay there, and ‘Guilt’ is the album’s answer to the awesome singles off the first record, as it reunites both the creative vocals of Jackson with the catchy and not so try-hard guitar work of Chaplin and Cox. It’s also a matter of song length, as many might not have the patience for the six minute “experimental” opener and instead be hanging out solely for the punch of the shorter numbers.

The Long Blondes have delivered a follow up that isn’t likely to draw the attention of those that missed their first release, though it will keep existing fans satisfied. While the new approach shows a musical growth, quite frankly another album of short, punchy tunes would have sufficed – a fact that about half of this album proves.