Blondshell – T&A Review

Back already with new material, Blondshell storms back into the spotlight without having left it. Their self-titled debut was a powerhouse of alt-pop charms and the consistent tour to follow has meant Veronica Mars and all the rest of those excellent, earworm riffs, have stayed constant. T&A falls right into place because of it. Tits and ass. That is what Blondshell says this track stands for, or at least this is what she told the Glastonbury crowd last year. It could be the case. It could be an unchanged message. A summery feel, the appeal of openness and all that remains for Blondshell is to deliver T&A with the same bold atmosphere as her debut album. It works, inevitably so. These are confident punches at people trying to ride the coattails of someone with an opportunity to change in the public eye.  

T&A has a direct purpose. It slams the brakes on an otherwise idealistic moment between close hearts and begins to dismantle this sense of well-being. But unpack it for yourself, find the rough edges where the grooves should go, and do as Blondshell does with this outstanding lead track. Exceptional instrumentals are not just expected but improved on here, the passion and power of a tightly wound guitar riff is all it takes to cement Blondshell. Those soft jangle pop moments, the fade and echo on the instrumental section as a way of making those moments of passionless love feel dream-like are all too real, all too momentous. T&A is much more than some lover’s tiff, it strikes with a self-confidence so necessary to sexual encounters, to moments of love and giving in to lust. T&A is a desire from one unnamed person to another, one that makes the person in control of this situation question the motives and actions of the other.  

Bold material like this will always have a place. Those occasions of maturity are all part of the process, and yet the rage lingers throughout T&A, and deservedly so. Stylish and slick work will be no surprise to those who listened through Blondshell for much of last summer, and even now its alternative rock style stands tall, well above its contemporaries. T&A is a song of attraction and distraction. “Why don’t the good ones love me,” is a call of self-respect, of questioning all those wrong choices. They litter the past, build the present and are likely somewhere in the future, too. But T&A remains defiant in a way Blondshell has mastered. Even in those moments of infinite questioning is a clear path through, a desire set to be made a part of their life.  

Such is the difference between Blondshell and contemporaries in the same field. They are all moved by the passions and want of it, but few who are making it their focal point. Blondshell does this well with T&A. Harsh interactions and harsher words fall through this lead single, a stunning showcase of intimacy and the colder inevitabilities of it when with an incompatible other person. From family embarrassments to moments which change a lover’s mind, T&A showcases sex as an activity with a necessary new layer. Strong writing is crucial here – it could come across as crass or needy, but it never does. Much of that is because of how monumental an alt-rock writer Blondshell is, but part of it is because of how personable and how naturally it all comes together.