Couples (The Long Blondes album) explained

Couples
Type:studio
Artist:The Long Blondes
Cover:Couples300.jpg
Released:7 April 2008
Genre:Indie rock
Label:Rough Trade
Producer:Erol Alkan
Prev Title:Someone to Drive You Home
Prev Year:2006
Next Title:Singles
Next Year:2008

Couples is the second album by the Sheffield band The Long Blondes. It was released on 7 April 2008 by Rough Trade Records, with the first single, "Century", released on 24 March 2008.[1] The quotation marks in the album title were included as a reference to the David Bowie album "Heroes".[2]

Recording

The album was recorded in October 2007.produced by Erol Alkan who had previously produced many of the band's B-sides including "Fulwood Babylon", "All Bar One Girls" and "Five Ways to End It".

Reception

The album was generally well received by critics.[3] The Independent called it "one of the albums of the year from one of the bands of the decade".[4] The Fly described it as "a dark, sultry and sublime album" and gave it a four out of five stars.[5] Uncut gave the album four stars and called it a "sleek, sexy affair....Flirtations with a darker sound and Donna Summer-style disco emerge",[6] Mojo labelled the album "ambitious and close to unique".[6] Drowned in Sound said that the band had created "an ambitious, forward-thinking pop record that tops their debut by quite some distance",[7] and Allmusic called the LP an "exciting, challenging, daring listen that's full of brains".[8]

Despite good reactions from many music critics in the UK, Pitchfork Media had an average take on the album, writing that "In an attempt to be taken seriously, they've sacrificed too much of their effervescent appeal." The album was rewarded a 5.8/10, compared to the 8.2 score their debut album received.[9]

Click Music's Andrew Grillo named Couples his ninth best album of 2008.[10]

Track listing

All tracks written by The Long Blondes.

  1. "Century" – 5:36
  2. "Guilt" – 4:35
  3. "The Couples" – 3:37
  4. "I Liked the Boys" – 1:59
  5. "Here Comes the Serious Bit" – 2:49
  6. "Round the Hairpin" – 5:43
  7. "Too Clever by Half" – 4:26
  8. "Erin O'Connor" – 3:09
  9. "Nostalgia" – 3:12
  10. "I'm Going to Hell" – 5:58[11]
Bonus tracks
  2. "Picture of You" (iTunes bonus track)
  3. "Going Grey" (iTunes bonus track)

Personnel

The Long Blondes

Technical personnel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Long Blondes Wrap Up New Album. Aversion.com . 21 December 2007 . 18 January 2008.
  2. Web site: The Long Blondes Biography . 24 January 2014 . Rough Trade Records . 2 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140202140139/http://www.roughtraderecords.com/thelongblondes . dead .
  3. Web site: Reviews for Couples by The Long Blondes. Metacritic.
  4. News: Album: The Long Blondes, "Couples" (Rough Trade). The Independent . London . Simon . Price . 6 April 2008 . 18 April 2010 .
  5. Web site: The Long Blondes Cancel Shows . The Fly . 18 June 2008 . 10 February 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110929112159/http://www.the-fly.co.uk/words/reviews/album-reviews/1242/the-long-blondes . 29 September 2011 . dead .
  6. Web site: Couples reviews . Metacritic.com . 6 May 2008 . 10 February 2012.
  7. Web site: Webb . Rob . The Long Blondes - "Couples" . Drownedinsound.com . 3 April 2008 . 10 February 2012 . 9 June 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080609190719/http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/3121173 . dead .
  8. Allmusic Couples review
  9. Web site: Pitchfork Album Review . . 11 April 2008 . 19 February 2012.
  10. Web site: Writer's Choice: Albums of the Year Part 5. clickmusic.com. 25 December 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20090126063827/http://www.clickmusic.com/articles/9943/Writers-Choice-Albums-Of-The-Year-Part-5.html. 26 January 2009. dead.
  11. Web site: Long Blondes Reveal North American Tour, Tracklist. Pitchforkmedia.com . 2 February 2008 . 13 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080211220215/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/48583-long-blondes-reveal-north-american-tour-tracklist. 11 February 2008.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Couples (The Long Blondes album)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.