Being a self-confessed Long Blondes fan I'm delighted to finally get all those early singles on one CD i hate having to play my vinyl so for me this is good. However, I will try and be unbiased in my review for all those that are new to The Long Blondes (shame on you!).

So '"Singles"' is a collection of those early 7" singles released on Angular and Good & Evil and as such the first thing you will notice is that the quality is'nt exactly top dollar but then who releases 100% quality products first time around these are somewhere between demo and album in production. But don't let that put you off as there are some gems to be found here (as well as some clearly for the cutting room floor).

First up we get the double A-side of 'New Idols' and 'Long Blonde' with the former given that 60's humming guitar sound you can tell it's a Ronettes track and as for the latter it's gentle intro gives away to a more up-tempo stomp with Kate Jackson bitching about the local wannabe 'i know you want to be seen/there's nothing wrong with that/it's the only way to get your name on the map'.

'Autonomy Boy' follows it's previously only been available on a rare compilation and is the best thing to be found here fully deserving to finally get an airing. It's a grubby little song that marches forward with quite cutting lyrics 'you cut your arms, baby, just to fit in' that speak of the insecurities of wanting to be apart of 'the scene', they still play it live and rightly so they should never have left it off their debut album. 'Giddy Stratospheres' did make it onto the album and here it's just a more minimal version with more emphasis on the hand-clapping.


'Polly' is an old 50's style waltzing track that brings a nice lull to the album before the most ridiculous of songs appears in the shape of 'Darts' even i can't defend this song it's just plain silly. 'Appropriation(By Any Other name)' reveals a more indie by numbers side that does contain some wonderful lyrics about relationships this is backed up by 'My Heart Is Out Of Bounds' with it's glam bass and shout-outs.

'Lust In The Movies' and 'Separated By Motorways' are both early versions of album tracks that are more slowed down and don't contain the ferocity of the re-recordings. 'Big Infatuation' is another hidden moment of glory to be found here it's impossible not to hit something to this and it contains a wonderfully cheesy Grease moment in it's squeals of 'tell me more, tell me more, tell me more' that just makes it all the more endearing. The albums ends on previously unreleased track 'Peterborough' a song about the threat of running away but in a sense not really just going far enough to be a nuisance to your parents.



'"Singles"' contains it's highs and it's lows but for those that are fans it'll just be great to have a track like 'Autonomy Boy' on CD to play to death and for those yet to get into The Long Blondes some of this album is a good place to start if not debut album 'Someone To Drive You Home' will do the trick.