The Blondes - Summer Strut

Once in a while an album comes along that soundtracks the Summer. Few know this better than The Blondes who have the simple philosophy of why spend a lifetime thinking of a album title when none are more apt than "Summer Strut". It's suitably retro rock & roll and jingly jangly as all great summer records have been and best of all the music comes from a time before your sun tan was developed on a Sun Bed with the warning: "Not only are you going to leave this building varying degrees of Red and Orange, but you will f**king die from skin cancer for that very privilege". The Blondes live in Van Nuys Boulevard, LA where everyday is a holiday and the town remains the same as it was in the 60s so notably the Surf Boards are twice as large and when you buy a burger it's simply quarter pounders or half pounders and not the Triple Whammy McBurger King "do you wanna go large" burger with a choice of 20 different toppings.

Each track is a joyful and familiar romp taking influences from the usual suspects (i.e The Beatles, The Who, Beach Boys) while still forging ahead with their own sound. With the songwriting team of Adam Siegel and Billy Dusha in place they are aided by Brian Kehew on keyboards who is better known for his work with French Dance heads Air and the legendary Moog Cookbook. While it's a sound steeped heavily in the past the songs have an energy which many of the Britpop bands of the 90s simply didn't have and it's this that what makes the Blondes truly infectious. Lyrically the themes are universal messages of being a rebel without a cause and falling in and out of love - in short the subjects that have made up every great song of the past 50 years.

I could tell you how "I Just Wanna Stay At Home" is the latter day version of the Who's "My Generation" or how if this band hailed from Detroit or New York that no-one would give a damn about the White Stripes or the Strokes. I could tell you how every single one of the twelve tracks on this album is fuelled by the real essence of rock & roll. I could tell you that listening the Blondes is better than snorting cocaine off a supermodel in LA. Or I could just tell you to stop reading this review now, get down to your local Record Emporium and buy "Summer Strut" and experience it all for yourself!!!

Alex McCann

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