The Long Blondes
Giddy Stratospheres

First, a handclapped intro… then the guitars jutter into gear… and lastly, reluctantly sweet vocals kick in to complete the sweetly packaged bite of The Long Blondes’ single 'Giddy Stratospheres'. The song is a jolting ride, with guitars which warp, scratch, stop and start and backing vocals on the bridge which jeer their questions to singer Kate’s answers. The whole song has an undertone of nastiness, being as it is a warning from an interested second party that his girl’s just not good enough: "She’ll never take you to/Giddy Stratospheres". Even his mother’s "Surprised that this is how you want to spend your nights indoors"…

First B-Side 'Polly' is something of a departure from the bite of '…Stratospheres': a summery, swinging sixties-esque number which is the musical equivalent of long, icy-sweet cocktails on the patio. 'Darts' on the other hand, starting with a roll of thunder before launching head first into a frantic-stabbing-crackling tacit threat of a song, picks up the dark undertones of …Stratospheres and runs with it until it reaches critical mass and crashes out.

The jerky structure coupled with the slightly thin recording makes the A-Side here a bit of a trying listen first time round, but it’s well worth pushing through the initial barrier of the recording quality to get at the song underneath. The Long Blondes have tunes, ideas and an attitude so big they probably have trouble getting it through the door. Fine attributes indeed…