The demise of The Long Blondes was an unfortunate one. Their fate was secured when songwriter and guitarist Dorian Cox suffered a stroke and became unable to play guitar. So it was that the Sheffield five-piece separated, leaving behind a fiercely impressive canon. The singer Kate Jackson has returned with the imaginatively titled Kate Jackson Group, and the results are very convincing.
‘Date With Dawn’ sounds like The Long Blondes, but with a bit more swagger, a vivacious kind of new wave with catchy guitar hooks and occasionally filthy lyrics. There is a slightly inebriated quality to this song, which seems apt as it charts a night out on the town and all the pitfalls and adventures therein. Fans of her previous band need not worry about this new group, as the Kate Jackson Group seem to be a tight unit and Kate sounds more confident than ever as (basically) a solo artist. As this is the first taste of her new, solo material, I expect that this will be the song that sounds the most like her previous output, whereas she will allow the rest of the first album to carve out her own distinct sound. It’s great to have Kate Jackson back. This could be the (re)start of something great.
7/10
‘Date With Dawn’ is available as a free download here: http://soundcloud.com/katejackson/date-with-dawn/download
