Yahoo! Music Review

Gig played on 21/04/08

In the great book of pop history the footnotes are sometimes more interesting than the main chapters, particularly those that concern the almost bands. Not the abject failures or the irretrievably forgettable, but the cult outfits and mavericks who never quite made it, for whatever reason. In 1967 The Monkees hit Number One compared to The Velvet Underground's number 171, but who now provokes the greater fascination? More recently, original oddballs like Curve, Subcircus or Black Box Recorder have released remarkable records to embarrassing sales and public indifference.

With the excellent new album "Couples" limping to number 48, it seems likely that The Long Blondes will join the ranks of the almost. Tonight's performance provides some evidence of why that may be. The stage is surrounded by eerie mannequins and they take it to a trumpeting fanfare, but this is where the showmanship more or less ends. Oddly for a band so clearly in love with pop, and with enough musical flamboyance to borrow from bands as varied as Soft Cell, Suede, Blondie and Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Long Blondes have a dull and workmanlike approach to gigging.

Kate Jackson may be an indie pin-up, but the lights are kept so low and her stiff-armed stage presence is so stilted that those mannequins are often more charismatic, while her band's studied concentration makes them look like lost electricians. Which means that tonight - and as a trash-pop band, this is probably the kind of rock cliché they despise - The Long Blondes' music has to do the talking. Luckily, it's got a lot to say.

Opener "I Liked The Boys" isn't a great start - Cox's howling guitars completely overwhelming Jackson's voice and the modest melody - but by second song, "Weekend Without Make-up", all the pieces fall into place; the fizzy Kim Wilde chorus, jagged new wave guitars and the increasing power of Jackson's voice. The rest of the gig is uneven but rarely dull. "Here Comes The Serious Bit" is trashy, thrashy fun, like Siouxsie's "Love In A Void" without the killer hook, while "Giddy Stratospheres" and "Century" are the poppiest, brightest moments, with their disco shimmers and some sweet, piercing high notes.

But the highlight is "Too Clever By Half". Oddly insubstantial as recorded on "Couples", live its sinister drums and swooning, siren vocal are quite rivetingly sexy and even provoke a brief, shimmying dance by Jackson. For all this, however, tonight's guest list heavy crowd doesn't leave the Forum overbrimming with excitement. The Long Blondes may be just a little too aloof, a little bit too eccentric, to enthral the public as much as critics. Another pop injustice to add to the list.

by Jaime Gill