Good Weather For Airstrikes

The merits of the a-side have already been thoroughly discussed here, so this single review will serve more as a pedestal from which I can sing the praises of the b-side, “Fulwood Babylon”, which is one of my favorite songs of the year and perhaps the best-produced non-electronica songs to come out in recent history. The incredible production can be attributed solely to the presence of half-man half-magician Erol Alkan behind the boards on this, the first track he’s ever produced for a band. The song’s worth taking note of for that reason alone, and while the Blondes are right at home with Steve Mackey on the bulk of their ouevre, this collaboration with Alkan has proven to be an impossibly-perfect pairing and has yielded my favorite Long Blondes work to date.

As previously noted, the band score with the whole clever narratives/dark undertones/spiky guitars/thumping basslines thing, and “Fulwood Babylon” sees them perfecting this formula. Alkan makes his money on the depth and expansiveness of his productions (case in point: the reverb-drenched chorus vocals on his supreme “She’s Hearing Voices” remix), and those two bread-winning elements, coupled with the Long Blondes formula for success, result in an absolutely huge track in terms of both breadth and, er, awesomeness. Everything about the song works, from the way the alliterative hard consonants of the opening acapella verse gradually give way to the bassline that will prove to be the backbone of the song, to the way the backing vocals echo out into the ether, and finally to that incredible spoken word bridge, the latter of which is my single favorite moment in any song in 2006. As usual, Green Pea-ness (seriously, get on that shit) was the first to post the track and sums it up better, and “Fulwood Babylon” comprises one half of the greatest blog post ever (that Snowfight track somehow manages to be every bit as rare and incredible as “Fulwood”), so you’d be wise to your self a favor and head over there.

The single release comes in three formats, two releases on 7″ vinyl and one on CD, each with its own exclusive Alkan-produced b-side and unique Kate Jackson-created artwork. The other b-sides, “Platitudes” and “Last Night On Northgate Street” are okay and all, and while “Northgate Street” is pretty good, neither hold a candle to “Fulwood Babylon”. The band will be releasing their next single, “Once And Never Again”, on October 3rd, with their Steve Mackey-produced debut, titled Someone To Drive You Home, following on November 6th. Be sure to check out my mega-profile of the band here or the Hype Machine for more LB goodness.

MP3s:
“Weekend Without Makeup” - The Long Blondes ((highly recommended))
“Fulwood Babylon” - The Long Blondes ((HIGHLY recommended))

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 10th, 2006 at 9:03 pm and is filed under Single Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.