For those of you not familiar with The Long Blondes, their jerky, highly tuneful melodies have been gathering momentum in the exponentially increasing indie scene of their native England. This is their commercial debut and it’s a fantastically put-together album; each individual track has an identity of its own, but they are all somehow instantly recognizable as The Long Blondes’ tunes. “Giddy Stratospheres” owes a serious debt to Blondie’s “Rip Her to Shreds.” The song has a dripping-with-venom dialogue between pioneer of librarian-chic lead singer Kate Jackson and guitarist Emma Chaplin, verbally pissing on some hapless female whose femme fatale posturing is ruthlessly deconstructed through the medium of a deceptively upbeat pop song. “Separated by Motorways” often teeters precariously on the precipice of complete chaos, but thanks to the skills of drummer Screech, it becomes a frenetic and exhilarating highlight of an album alive with quality tracks. An admirable debut by all accounts, and indie kids will want to run out and get this album as fast as their skin tight jeans will allow them.