The Long Blondes

The first thing that strikes DiS upon entering the tiny Earl is that this isn’t your average single launch party. It’s all the better for it, though, because The Long Blondes have eschewed the corporate hospitality approach and turned the place into what looks like a 1950s film set, complete with a candle-lit bar and ornate lampshades on-stage.

The fact that the single they’re supposed to be launching, ‘Appropriation (By Any Other Name)’, isn’t actually out for another two weeks due to a cock-up by the pressing company doesn’t dampen the Blondes’ spirits. Playing for just over thirty minutes, their angular art-rock receives an enthusiastic response from the amassed hipsters.

Taking to the stage with the strains of their own ‘Autonomy Boy’ ringing from the speakers, the Sheffield five-piece are eminently presentable. They may not be particularly blonde or in the least bit tall, but they do offer a mean line in retro chic.

When the music stops and the band starts, it soon becomes apparent that they’re not just another fashion troupe. In dark-haired lead singer Kate they have a powerful and charismatic vocalist whose baritone delivery is the perfect accompaniment to the detuned throb of their guitars.

The aforementioned ‘Autonomy Boy,’ all clattering guitar and stop-start lyrics, sees even the coolest fashionistas getting down, ‘Lust In The Movies’ features a refrain that recalls a time when Iggy had aspirations to become a canine, and ‘Giddy Stratospheres’ somehow manages to top them both.

With clever lyrics and urgent tunes that nag away at your brain, you can almost see why The Long Blondes have been mentioned in the same breath as the Franz. You couldn’t ever envisage their scratchy guitars and noisy pop songs taking over commercial radio in the same way, but you could easily imagine them enchanting club audiences nationwide.