Someone to Drive You Home

Someone To Drive you Home
Studio album by The Long Blondes
Released	6 November 2006
Recorded	July 2006, Konk Studios, London
Genre	Indie rock
Length	US release: 62:42
Label	Rough Trade
Producer	Steve Mackey
The Long Blondes chronology
Someone To Drive you Home (2006) Couples (2008)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Drowned in Sound	(8/10)[2]
The Guardian	[3]
LAUNCHcast	(9/10)[4]
Mojo	[5]
NME	(9/10)[6]
The Observer	[7]
Pitchfork Media	(8.2/10)[8]
Stylus	B+[9]
This Is Fake DIY	[10]

Someone To Drive You Home is the debut album by The Long Blondes. It was released on 6 November 2006. It received widespread critical praise and was placed 7th in the NME's best 50 albums of 2006 list [1] and features in many other best of lists for 2006.

The predominant theme of the album is relationships from a female perspective, although 10 of the tracks on the album were written by male guitarist Dorian Cox. Themes dealt with include competition between females, isolation, sexual exploration and deceit. Influences of Pulp, Elastica, Morrissey and Blondie have been frequently quoted when the album is discussed in the media.^[11]

The title of the album comes from a line in the song "You Could Have Both".

The album's artwork is a painting by lead singer Kate Jackson; it is an image of Faye Dunaway in the film Bonnie and Clyde, with a Mark 3 Ford Cortina as her getaway car.^[12] The artwork inside the album sleeve is a painting of Nicolas Cage & Laura Dern in the film Wild At Heart.^[13]

Track listing

1. "Lust in the Movies" – 3:05
2. "Once And Never Again" – 2:56
3. "Only Lovers Left Alive" – 3:59
4. "Giddy Stratospheres" – 5:08
5. "In the Company of Women" – 2:39
6. "Heaven Help the New Girl" – 3:54
7. "Separated by Motorways" – 2:19
8. "You Could Have Both" – 4:47
9. "Swallow Tattoo" – 2:31
10. "Weekend Without Makeup" – 4:11
11. "Madame Ray" – 3:30
12. "A Knife for the Girls" – 5:08

US bonus disc

1. "Fulwood Babylon" – 4:05
2. "Five Ways to End It" – 6:06
3. "Never to Be Repeated" – 3:43
4. "All Bar One Girls" – 4:09

15th Anniversary Edition Disc 2

1. "Five Ways To End It" - 6:06
2. "Fulwood Babylon" – 4:05
3. "The Whippet Fancier" - 3:46
4. "Who Are You To Her?" - 4:29
5. "Never To Be Repeated" – 3:43
6. "All Bar One Girls" – 4:09
7. "I'm Coping" - 3:13
8. "Last Night On Northgate St" - 2:54
9. "Platitudes" - 3:18
10. "Melville Farr" - 1:37
11. "The Unbearable Lightness Of Buildings" - 5:42

Personnel

The Long Blondes

• Emma Chaplin: guitars, keyboards, vocals
• Dorian Cox: guitars, keyboards, vocals, lyrics except on tracks 7 and 11
• Reenie Hollis: bass guitar, vocals
• Kate Jackson: lead vocals, lyrics on tracks 7 and 11, artwork
• Screech Louder: drums

Other

• Produced and mixed by: Steve Mackey and Richard Flack
• Assistant engineers: Ben Mason, Serge Krebs
• Mastered by: Guy Davie at the Exchange
• Logo by: Matt Bolton
• Layout by: Jeff Teader

External links

• Someone to Drive You Home at MusicBrainz
• Someone to Drive You Home Album Review at UKEvents.net

References

1. AllMusic review
2. Drowned in Sound review Archived 2007-12-14 at the Wayback Machine
3. The Guardian review
4. LAUNCHcast review
5. Mojo review
6. NME review
7. The Observer review
8. Pitchfork Media review
9. Stylus review
10. This Is Fake DIY review Archived 2007-02-28 at the Wayback Machine
11. The Long Blondes Interview – Plan B Magazine Archived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine
12. Wiseman, Eva (11 November 2006). "Eva Wiseman meets the Long Blondes". London: Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
13. "The Long Blondes - they're so modern". The Independent. London. 21 March 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2010.