The last of the famous, international playgirls (Kate Jackson, not me)

The Long Blondes at the Kentish Town Forum, Monday 21st April 2008

In her Betty Grable/Paulette Goddard/forties bellhop come land girl outfit (it’s not many people that can pull off those high-waisted hot pants, fair dos) Kate Jackson is on fire tonight, working the crowd into the highest point of frenzied activity during the coquettish, outlandish (‘Come out with me and find out what you really want’) new punk classic, Once and Never Again. The sweaty boys at the front spontaneously surge backwards and forwards trying to get closer and closer to the vamped up librarian (not sure if that was ever true or not), now self-styled femme fatale, and gsg has to take a couple of discreet steps backward to avoid getting too much unwanted bodily contact. Urgh. It’s not so much a Mexican wave as a Kentish Town scuffle.

Anyways, the night is uber successful with the grittier tracks from the first album colliding not too cacophonously with the newer, sleeker, dancier, euphoria-inducing tracks like Century from the new album “Couples”. The effect is somewhat schizophrenic however; it seems like the band has perhaps been hanging out a bit too often with the likes of Allison Goldfrapp and the Klaxons and some of the tracks like the new single, Too clever by half, totally fails to impress upon me I’m afraid; it just didn’t seem to get going melodically or lyrically; what is it about for Jesus’ sake? I kept straining to catch the drift of it but it was a totally quagmire live (this could be down to my failing hearing btw so don’t take my word for it; it could be like Shakespeare or something). I guess I’m just going to have to buy the album now and give it another go.

8.5/10. GSG.