If Top of the Pops ever makes a comeback, the Long Blondes are the perfect introduction to its future. Kate Jackson is a sassy, utterly watchable frontwoman who shares a name with the actress who played the clever one in the original Charlie's Angels, and whose voice flits between Siouxsie Sioux, Debbie Harry and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs' vixen Karen O. Backed by two boy/girl couples with a working knowledge of the past 30 years of New Wave Power Pop tempered by Eurovision oomph, it is no coincidence that they have a song called Appropriation (By Any Other Name).
This Valentine's night 14s-and-over show is a text-book study in plundering. One minute they're coming on strong like a less strung-out Elastica, the next, on Separated By Motoways, they sound like they've been hanging out at their record label Rough Trade's old shop on Ladbroke Grove, only circa 1977 rather than 2007. They even go so far as to reference Cabaret Voltaire's twisted electro anthem, Nag, Nag, Nag, sprinkling it with some disco-dolly sugar en route.
For all the musical nous and abundance of tunes, however, as with Sophie Ellis-Bextor's first band, the Audience, Jackson is the band's star in waiting. Yet, for all the libidinous strut, shimmy and wiggle, the gushing between song thank yous spoil the image somewhat, giving her more of an air of a home-counties debutante than the sex goddess pin-up she's destined to become.
If the encore-free ending is an anti-climax, new single Giddy Stratospheres sums it up. The Long Blondes are about to have their moment, and it's a joy to watch them grabbing it.
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