The Long Blondes

It took me a while to finally get around to listening to The Long Blondes. I think if anything, they looked too perfect for me to not look at them with a bit of a jaundiced eye. Too pretty, too British, too well dressed. But I finally broke down. Maybe I was afraid that they were all blondes. Thankfully they are not.

Now I can't say they are as perfect as I feared. But they are definitely worth a listen. They move around the sounds of influence well (everything from Elastica to Dancehall Crashers to Saint Etienne to girl group 60s cheerleader rock) and keep you guessing a bit. I don't think all of their experiments work per se, but again, they could do a lot worse.

And of course, if you name check Anna Karina in a song, you have already won me over.

The full record is worth a listen, so I'll give it a 7. These two tracks though get 8.5s.

The Long Blondes- Lust in the Movies
The Long Blondes- Separated By Motorways

Another blog

I know this doesn't count as a post, but I figure you might enjoy this as much as I did. You like Oasis, Ride, the Verve, Radiohead or the La's? Check out:
ocstwosway

He gets a 9 outta 10.

The Gossip

I can't believe I have yet to post a Gossip song. A thousand pardons.

I have been fan of the Gossip for a while now, and actually interviewed them once (although the story got killed and never got into print). They are one of those few bands that has it all: a interesting back story, great personalities, great unique tunes and actually have something to say about the world around them. All in all they are 100% worth listening to. And here are four reasons:

1. The band was started by two kids from Searcy, Arkansas, who moved out to Olympia, Wash. to find a better existence. Fat, gay, weird, nerd, etc. didn't win them lots of favor in Ark. No offense, Arkansas.

2. They have stuck to their indie guns since the beginning. I don't know if they are being sought after in the US by majors, but they have finally taken off in the UK and are tabloid darlings now with a top 10 record, Standing In The Way Of Control. They have gone from down home lo-fi punk rock spiritual to dance rock post-punk/funk, but they began on Kill Rock Stars and are still there.

3. The band has politics and touts them all the time. But for them it's not about manifestos and sloganeering, it's really all about how they live their lives. Be it gay rights, or DIY aesthetics, or the reality of society's patriarchal views of women, they talk about it because they live it.

4. They cover my favorite Aaliyah song.

The Gossip get a 10.
Their album Movement gets a 9.
The follow up, Standing In The Way of Control gets an 8.5.
The Aaliyah cover gets a 10.


Here are four more reasons:

The Gossip
Night (from Movement)
Standing In the Way of Control (from Standing In The Way Of Control)
Standing in the Way of Control (Le Tigre Mix)
Are U That Somebody (Aaliyah cover)