Questione di stile: tra glamour e intellettualismo fatto di citazioni e paludata dissipazione, muovendosi tra interni retrò in cui il modernariato serve a coprire le crepe su muri umidicci, mentre in televisione gira un vecchio vhs di un noir anni quaranta e dalla finestra si intuisce una fila asettica di case beige. Questione di stile per una band di cinque componenti (tre ragazze, due ragazzi) chiamarsi The Long Blondes senza che nessuno dei cinque sia biondo. E soprattutto questione di stile è lei, la leader, Kate Jackson, agghindata con cura maniacale da tacchettante trentenne anni sessanta con blusa e fazzoletto al collo, sexy, vissuta, cinica e tremendamente accentratrice (e bravissima). Basta questo per capire che dopo gli Arctic Monkeys, che si potevano facilmente confondere in mezzo a una classe semibrufolosa e fastidiosa di un istituto professionale in gita a Londra, la nuova "next big thing" inglese è il ritorno ad un poprock modaiolo e vintage inconfondibilmente britannico e giusto agli antipodi delle grezze scimmie artiche.
Vengono da Sheffield, come i Pulp; sono prodotti dall'ex-Pulp Steve Mackey, anche se avrebbero preferito Jarvis Cocker; amano (maddai?) i Pulp. Ci tengono moltissimo all'artwork dei loro dischi, curate tutte da Kate. Ci tengono molto ad un songwriting non banale (a questo pensa Dorian Cox, chitarrista), che strizzi l'occhio al trentenne scolarizzato grazie a richiami letterari e cinematografici, senza rinunciare a prosaiche immersioni in una quotidianità ingrigita e fumosa, con qualche sparso e furbo rimando adolescenziale e molte più riflessioni da sbandato di mezza età: e con ciò mettono assieme Pulp, Black Box Recorder, Saint Etienne, Pet Shop Boys, Smiths.
Il loro esordio sulla lunga distanza, che raccoglie alcune canzoni già precedentemente uscite in ep (e qui riadattate) e molti pezzi nuovi, suona come i Pulp di His'n'hers privati delle tastiere e declinati in una interpretazione più disco-rock, che passa per Blondie e prende qualche spunto dai più recenti La Tigre e Raveonettes. Ne esce quell'indie-dance che i Pulp avevano provato a cavalcare nei primi novanta (vedi "Live On", solo recentemente edita) e che qui sembra rinascere, ben aggiornato e corretto, con spunti presi da ciò che venne prima e da ciò che è venuto dopo.
Sono canzoni dirette, senza complicazioni, che al primo ascolto ti fanno muovere a tempo il piede e che al secondo ti sono già entrate in testa. La grande cura per le melodie, i ritornelli sempre ben pensati e preparati, i riff di chitarra graffianti, tra dub e sfumature neoromantiche, e la voce di Kate, eclettica e attoriale, meravigliosamente capace di interpretare con angolature sempre diverse e scalene la prospettiva narrativa dei testi, sono gli ingredienti dell'album. Si va dal sound adulto e pieno di "Weekend Without Makeup" alle movenze più noir di "A Knife For The Girls", passando per pezzi più pulsanti come "Lust In The Movies" e "Only Lovers Left Alive", fino alle estremità più schiettamente pop del disco, ossia "Once And Never Again" e "Swallow Tattoo", brevi, incalzanti e ballabili gioiellini di tweepop stile sixties. "Giddy Stratospheres", con un formidabile connubio tra parole e musica, con una base data da un basso in primo piano, claps e chitarra tagliente, spicca: puzza di sudore in un club anni ottanta, voltola tra attici ben arredati e bui bassifondi, e in salotto, a metà strada, suona davvero alla grande. C'è anche tempo per interpretazioni che, anche grazie alla voce di Kate, rapiscono i Garbage e li portano a visitare gli Smiths ("In The Company Of Women"), per alleggerimenti quasi melodrammatici ("Heaven Help The New Girl") e per sparate più veloci ("Separated By Motorways"), ma sempre pop fino al midollo.
Le ambientazioni sono provinciali, creano atmosfere un po' svogliate, sfregiate dalla routine, tra un quadro di Hopper e le strade dei sabati sera o di un mattino di metà settimana. Appartamenti sopra negozi di animali, supermercati, pub in cui gettare occhiate tra il fumo e il vetro schiumato della pinta, casette borghesi in cui si sgranano solitudini e riti sfiancanti fanno da sfondo a storie di coppie, relazioni difficili, ragazze annoiate. Citano film e sembra a tratti che li proiettino, questi cinque biondi-non-biondi, cosicché a ogni brano corrisponde un clima, una pellicola, una sensibilità diversa; il tutto mantenendo una saldissima omogeneità di fondo.
Detto tutto questo, sperperate le solite parole, sarò secco e prudentemente (ma non troppo) dubitativo: in extremis, uno dei dischi dell'anno (?).
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Lust in the Movies (03:06)
A svelte young man, eighteen lovers to his name.
Well if the rumours are true then eighteen lovers came crawling back again.
I don't feel well.
I've got this rattling in my chest.
My doctor said that I should give it up because I'm clinically obsessed.
I know you think you're in the movies.
You're in the movies that don't wanna know me.
Well I know all about fear and desire, I know all about lust et cetera.
Edie Sedgwick, Anna Karenina, Arlene Dahl.
Edie Sedgwick, Anna Karenina, Arlene Dahl.
I just want to be a sweetheart.
I just want to be a sweetheart.
I just want to be a sweetheart.
A sweet young girl, dressed to the nines in Cacharel.
Oh, under the weather my heels click together, and following her is hell.
I feel quite ill.
I've got this rattling in my chest.
My doctor said that I should give it up, I need to get some rest.
Edie Sedgwick, Anna Karenina, Arlene Dahl.
Edie Sedgwick, Anna Karenina, Arlene Dahl.
I just want to be a sweetheart.
I just want to be a sweetheart.
I just want to be a sweetheart.
So never, never, never try to tell me it's a pleasure being alone.
All I have here with me are the records and the books that I own.
Nag, nag, nag.
Nag, nag, nag.
Nag, nag, nag.
Nag, nag, nag.
Edie Sedgwick, Anna Karenina, Arlene Dahl.
Edie Sedgwick, Anna Karenina, Arlene Dahl.
I just want to be a sweetheart.
I just want to be a sweetheart.
I just want to be a sweetheart
02 Once and Never Again (02:59)
19. you're only 19 for God's sake,
Oh, you don't need a boyfriend.
19. you're only 19 for God's sake,
Oh, you don't need a boyfriend.
Look what he's made you do to your arm again,
He said he'd come round but he's gone out with his friends,
And I know how it feels to be your age
and feel the world is caving in.
Another drama by the kitchen sink tonight,
You said you'd cut yourself whilst washing up the knives,
Another week off school won't do you any good,
And I know how it feels to be your age.
19. you're only 19 for God's sake,
Oh, you don't need a boyfriend.
19. you're only 19 for God's sake,
Oh, you don't need a boyfriend.
Come back with me, and find out what you really want,
Come home with me you'll only have to do it once,
'cause I know what it feels like to be your age,
You only have to do it once,
And never again.
Another drama by the kitchen sink tonight,
You said you'd cut yourself whilst washing up the knives,
Another week off school won't do you any good,
And I know how it feels to be your age.
You know I'm not so young,
I spend an hour getting ready every day,
And still I end up looking more or less the same,
But I could show you,
a thing or two.
Oh, I could show you the ropes,
Yes I could show you the ropes,
And I would cut my hair for you,
'Cause I know how it feels.
I know how it feels to be your age,
I know how it feels to be your age,
Oh, how I'd love to feel a girl your age,
Your age,
Once and never again
03 Only Lovers Left Alive (03:59)
I wouldn't bother to look if I was sure that you were happy together
But I've seen the way she covers her chest up as if it was a national treasure
Looks are the first weapon
Charm is the second
I reckon that she doesn't have much of either
You don't need her
It's better that you come and see about me.
No, I won't get bored and I won't get tired
I've already spent years at the back of the line
So another six months won't make a difference to me now
Soon enough we'll be the
Only lovers, only lovers left alive
Only lovers, only lovers left alive
All the men came back from six years' fighting
To the beige row of houses and the prospect of spending
Their Saturday nights in
From here to eternity
And it wasn't that summer their wives didn't love them
They had the run of the house
And with nothing to do on a night
One thing led to something else.
No, I won't get bored and I won't get tired
I've already spent years at the back of the line
So another six months won't make a difference to me now
Soon enough we'll be the
Only lovers, only lovers left alive
Only lovers, only lovers left alive
Behind your back in the supermarket
She's got his number and she's not afraid to use it
I want to know, exactly what you, exactly what you intend to do about it
Because you can't keep your eye on her all the time
And you can't trust a word that she says any more
Can't trust a word that she says any more
Can't trust a word that she says any more
No, I won't get bored and I won't get tired
I've already spent years at the back of the line
So another six months won't make a difference to me now
Don't tell me what price salvation
I have to take it anyway
Can I get it on credit or something?
Godspeed the day, godspeed the day when we're the
Only lovers, only lovers left alive
Only lovers, only lovers left alive
Only lovers, only lovers left alive
Only lovers, only lovers left alive
Left alive
Left alive
04 Giddy Stratospheres (05:08)
(Verse One)
You're pretty, oh so pretty
Why waste your time just sitting
Here listening to that dead-eye bitch?
Do nothing, eat your chocolate
Drink your wine, she won't let you
Make your way across her empire line!
(Bridge)
What's eating you is a mystery
But go home with her one more time
And you know you'll be history
(Verse Two)
Watch movies with the lights on
Sit still, keep her tights on
Did you see this one the same time week?
Go on, say something clever
Just act so she will never
Take you higher than her attic room
(Bridge)
What's eating you is a mystery
But go home with her one more time
And you know you'll be history
(Chorus)
She'll never take you to giddy stratospheres
I'll comfort your fears
She'll never take you to giddy stratospheres
I'll comfort your fears
(Is she a femme fatale?)
That's what she wants you to think
(She'll never lead him astray)
But it's the best she can do
(But is she going away?)
No, she'll always be here,
Waiting for you
Back here on earth
(Verse Two)
Your mother, call your mother
Even she's surprised that this is
How you want to spend your nights indoors
You never call too often
What's up? Have you forgotten
What it's like to have her on all fours?
(Bridge)
What's eating you is a mystery
But go home with her one more time
And you know you'll be history
(Chorus)
She'll never take you to giddy stratospheres
I'll comfort your fears
She'll never take you to giddy stratospheres
I'll comfort your fears
(Is she a femme fatale?)
That's what she wants you to think
(She'll never lead him astray)
But it's the best she can do
(But is she going away?)
No, she'll always be here,
Waiting for you
Back here on earth
(Middle-Eight)
There's a train at
The station
It's leaving
This morning
It'll take you
Away from
This girl that's
So boring
Don't turn around, just walk away
Don't turn around, just walk away
Don't turn around, JUST WALK AWAY
(Chorus)
She'll never take you to giddy stratospheres
I'll comfort your fears
She'll never take you to giddy stratospheres
I'll comfort your fears
(Is she a femme fatale?)
That's what she wants you to think
(She'll never lead him astray)
But it's the best she can do
(But is she going away?)
No, she'll always be here,
Waiting for you
Back here on earth
06 Heaven Help the New Girl (03:54)
No more nights in the flat
In the flat above the pet shop
Hiding every picture of your boyfriend
He never has to go behind my back again
Because I don’t speak to him now
No more fights in the car,
In the back of his car
A car that never started and the rows they never stopped
He never has to go behind my back again
Because I don’t speak to him now
I say
Heaven help the new girl
If she has to go through what I went through too
Don’t get me wrong
If you want someone
Who's gonna lead you on
He's the one for you
Don’t get me wrong
If you want someone
Who's gonna treat you bad
He's the man
But who wants that anyway
Oh
Heaven help the new girl
If she has to go through what I went through too
Heaven help the new girl
If she has to go through what I went through too
So go
Just go
Because you'll be never 19 again
And I thought I told you before
You don’t need a boyfriend
So go
Just walk
It doesn’t matter if its raining or dark
And if by some strange stroke of luck
I pick you up
then we can drive to the country
Left to ourselves
And both say
Heaven help the new girl
If she has to go through what I went through too
07 Separated by Motorways (02:20)
In the pub where we learnt how to talk about bands
You stand all dressed up with your vodka in hand
Oh girl, you’re waiting for a pitiful man
In the pub, at the bar with the old men I am
Alone with a pint of bitter in my hand
For a girl this is not an acceptable plan
Wipe your eyes darling, it’s OK
Meet me on the dual carriage way
Separated by motorways
The A14 and the A1
Separated by motorways
Two lonely girls go on the run
I heard from the boys you were down on your knees last night
They were worried you were looking a sight
Oh girl you’re too wonderful
At work locked away in the north
I can’t escape from the people and the records I hate
No wonder I’m always 15 minutes late
Wipe your eyes darling, it’s OK
Meet me on the dual carriage way
Separated by motorways
The A14 and the A1
Separated by motorways
Two lonely girls go on the run
Separated by motorways
The A14 and the A1
Separated by motorways
Two lonely girls go on the run
Two lonely girls go on the run
Two lonely girls go on the run
09 Swallow Tattoo (02:31)
Give me a good film noir and a bottle of gin
I'll be happy just to stay inside,
I didn't want to get too involved
But I like how hard you tried.
To my horror,
A former lover told me you've always had a swallow tattoo
Now you tell me it's a sign of devotion
But devotion to who?
Don't think I'm a martyr to the cause
She's got her reasons putting cats amongst the pigeons
But I'd rather just stay indoors.
An antique emblem set in ink
It didn't mean a thing to you,
Now I've been wronged by proxy
Goodbye, happiness, I hardly knew ya.
To my horror,
A former lover told me you've always had a swallow tattoo
Now you tell me it's a sign of devotion
But devotion to who?
You fill me, you fill me
You fill me with inertia
You fill me with inertia
I still want, I still want to jump
I want to jump your bones.
Don't tell her, tell her anything
Because I'm bound to see her later today
And if she can't keep a straight face
Then I'll know.
To my horror,
A former lover told me you've always had a swallow tattoo
Now you tell me it's a sign of devotion
But devotion to who?
I'd rather just stay indoors.
10 Weekend Without Makeup (04:11)
Another weekend without makeup
Another evening to myself
Well, I guess that I won't be having the time of my life tonight
Where do you go when you've finished work?
You should have been home an hour ago
I've got your tea laid out like some kind of fifties housewife
Well I'll feed you
But I need you
To make a little more effort
I don't like giving you the third degree
I just want what's due, what's due to me...
There are wants and there are needs
And they're two very different things
You can love or be in love, again
They're two very different things
Yes, they're two very different things
I want to talk but you're much too tired
You've got a job but if you don't get fired soon
I'll be extremely surprised
Where do you go when you've finished work?
You should have been home an hour ago
You've left me fashioning a double bed
And acting like some kind of fifties housewife
There are wants and there are needs
And they're two very different things
You can love or be in love, again
They're two very different things
Yes, they're two very different things
I could be more than your land lady if you like
But you don't like
And neither do I!
There are wants and there are needs
And they're two very different things
You can love or be in love, again
They're two very different things
Yes, they're two very different things
You and I, we're different
You and I, we're two very different things
But still I've got you, I've got you under my skin
But still I've got you, I've got you under my skin
11 Madame Ray (03:31)
Give me a polaroid picture to fit in my pocket
And I'll paste it into my heart shaped locket
Eventually I’ll cheat on every man I meet
I know I can't help it
Buy me a drink and I will tell you my name
I’m a rose petal fallen from a mainline train
Always there to touch but just out of reach
I know you can’t help it
Eye on metronome, watching the way you write her name
An object of destruction made for Madame Ray
Left New York but drew your outline
On a ticket back to London
Whitewashed all my boyfriend's features
Solarising future pictures
I'm an ideal portrait of a girl,I’ll be your apprentice
But you can't keep me captive on your wall, I’m still in my twenties
Lie behind a camera past the city music hall,
Madame Ray will sit me high above you all
Left New York but drew my outline
On a record sleeve in brooklyn
Whitewashed three years of existence
Solarising future pictures
Man let go, he couldn’t keep her
Locks of hair on artist’s easels
Traces of unseen love rivals
Solarising into pictures
I am forever being put away
And I am always in reserve
I am forever being put away
And I am always in reserve
''"With an eye always in reserve
Material indestructible
Forever being put away
Taken for a ride
Put on the spot
The racket must go on
I am always in reserve"''
I am forever being put away
And I am always in reserve
I am forever being put away
And I am always in reserve
I am forever being put away
And I am always in reserve
I am forever being put away
And I am always in reserve
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