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Couples
 
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Couples

~ The Long Blondes
3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Audio CD (7 April 2008)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Rough Trade
  • ASIN: B0012P6Q7S
  • Other Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 11,896 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.

Extraits
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. Century 5:36£0.79
Listen  2. Guilt 4:34£0.79
Listen  3. The Couples 3:37£0.79
Listen  4. I Liked The Boys 1:58£0.79
Listen  5. Here Comes The Serious Bit 2:48£0.79
Listen  6. Round The Hairpin 5:42£0.79
Listen  7. Too Clever By Half 4:25£0.79
Listen  8. Erin O'Connor 3:08£0.79
Listen  9. Nostalgia 3:12£0.79
Listen10. I'm Going To Hell 5:58£0.79

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Long Blondes have had a makeover. Which might seem par for the course considering their fiery, acclaimed debut album Someone to Drive You Home saw their sense of retro chic kept at least equivalent to their Sheffield Blondie shtick. But they emerge from the inter-album dry-ice expanse devoid of many of those rough edges that defined and made them so alluring in the first instance--more Jackie Onassis than Oxfam--friends and family stand agog at the transformation. They're certainly no less sassy, au contraire, but there is a new found seriousness all over Couples. Last time, beneath their second-generation Britpop wrapping and Elastica/Pulp impulses, snuck a sense of synthesised control evoking hometown forbearers Heaven 17. This time around that impression is flipped. The clean lines and neon minimalism of "Century" and "Round the Hairpin" are more Ladytron than typical Long Blondes and "Too Clever By Half", essentially a husky falsetto prevented from floating off into the ether by a slow, sultry bass-line, is so slick it could be mistaken for recent ultra-stylised Kylie. The brilliant, full-throttle Roxy Music glam rattling of "I'm Going to Hell" is a reasonable meeting-point between the two albums, but their tight command of the musical onslaught is now quite arresting. This new-found sophistication, coupled with Erol Alkan's tremendously vibrant production, ensures that Couples probably does come out as twice the album to its predecessor. --James Berry

CD Description
'Couples' is the second album from Sheffield-based five piece The Long Blondes. After enlisting DJ/producer du jour Erol Alkan, the band present an exciting collection of tracks, marking a progression from their debut 'Someone To Drive YouHome'. Mixing bold musical ideas from disco and synth pop to krautrock rhythms and sophisticated indie, the band keep their wry and pop culture referencing ideas intact. Overall it's an ambitious record and a testament to their talent and wit. The single 'Century' is included.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A new direction..., 18 Mar 2008
By Mr. T. S. Guy (York, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Having heard the pre-release of this album a few times, I'm pretty hooked on it. Stylistically, it is very different from "Someone To Drive You Home", so it is bound to split the opinion of old fans, whilst winning over some new ones (like me).

Where the first album was indie (with very slight punk leanings in places), this is more electro-indie. The guitars are still there, but they're accompanied by a lot of synths, and it's quite a radical change of direction.

There's plenty to dance to (lead single "Century", or the spectacularly silly "Here Comes The Serious Bit"), some more straightforward indie-tinged tracks that will appeal to early fans ("Guilt", "I'm Going To Hell", "The Couples"), and a couple of really different songs like the dark-sounding "Round The Hairpin" or the almost falsetto vocals of "Too Clever by Far".

All in all, I really enjoy this album, it's very catchy and diverse enough to make an interesting listen. Personal highlights are "Guilt" and "Too Clever By Far", and I'd say that the vocalist has improved since the first disc. Some old fans won't like it, but if addressed with an open mind they may surprise themselves.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Too Clever for Review, 8 April 2008
By M. K. Edgar "Garage Flower" (Sheffield) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
So many newspaper reviews have thus far failed to catch the essence of this record which is somewhat understandable given the variation in tracks and the evolution from the Someone To Drive You Home LP.

Whereas the ferocity and tempo of the debut album had built on the earlier released singles of Lust In Movies and Once and Never Again, here is the sound of a band exhaling in the most seductive of manners.

The references to Pulp, Elastica and (no intention to offend) Sleeper bubble to the surface now whereas previously these were far more overt. Here the sounds range in style to include a Sheffield CSS, somehow Kasabianesque intros and Franz Ferdinand style Wogan references. If anything the diversity of songs now mark out The Long Blondes as a group to be taken on their own merits, for their own body of work, rather than as some collective 'new yorkshire' 'second wave of britpop' etc.

Century is a superb opener if a little bit of a bodyswerve as a signpost for the remainder of the record. The sort of noise that possibly only All Seeing I or Moloko could have thrust into a British pop atmosphere and exptect to work successfully into a hit in waiting.

Other standouts inlude Too Clever By Half which deserves its own film built around it to be generally released throughout art galleries everythwere - Nostalgia which sounds like The Good The Bad & The Queen teaming up with Graham Coxon with lyrics by a Jarvis Cocker trapped in 1992 - Here Comes The Serious Bit, a second cousin to Art Bruts Direct Hit but with more of a head down rush to the crescendo.

Much as they were a good band with a good record and excellent singles prior to "Couples", The Long Blondes are now in real danger of becoming a great band with an excellent record and splendid singles. Its as if difficult second albums never existed.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars CREAMY JALFREZI, 14 Jun 2008
By David Smith (Madrid) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Very disappointing second album. Take your favorite chiken jalfrezi, stir in an insipid creamy cheese sauce then shrink pack it in a polystyrene tray for supermarket shelves. Even Kate Jacksons sexiness sounds forced now. I really hope the new songs sound better live this summer.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant album if you have the patience to persevere
I thought their first album Someone To Drive You Home was brilliant. I would go as far as saying it was the best album of 2006 by some distance. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Pete

2.0 out of 5 stars Couples
Teamed with DJ Erol Alkan, The Long Blondes are back with their troublesome second album, `Couples'. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Lara O'Reilly

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
Someone To Drive You Home was my album of 2006, quite comfortably as it turned out. From start to finish it was a modern masterpiece. Read more
Published 14 months ago by IWFIcon

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