I kinda had a thing for UK band THE LONG BLONDES when they were around, and was frequently effusive about their hook-smithery and great throwback pop songs on my old blog Agony Shorthand. The band was already morphing into a new wave-esque commercial pop act by the time I saw them live in San Francisco in early 2007, but I still enjoyed them, and their very solid postpunk-informed back catalog was intact, both live and over a series of great 45s from 2003-06. My wife even mildly chastised me for mustering perhaps an inappropriate amount of general “enthusiasm” for singer Kate Jackson.
I forgot about her and the band for a few years, having subsequently heard their atrocious second album “Couples” and disavowing them entirely. I googled “Kate Jackson singer Long Blondes” to see what she & the rest of the band went on to do, and found out she’d released a 45 early this year called “The Atlantic”. Preparing to dislike it, I actually really dig this particular song after letting it sear in for a couple of listens. Slow in tempo, it has a gauzy, temporal fade in/fade out, a great hook, girl-group backup sounds and a general clutter that sorts itself out once it embeds itself. Maybe you’ll like it too.
DYNAMITE HEMORRHAGE 