What Took You So Long?

[Darren]

What Took You So Long?
Review

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1 Review by the Panel

“You’re Always Bad and You’re Always Rotten” By Fergal Kinney

Cavorting was the single that announced them to Manchester, Acrylic was the single that announced them to those in the know around the country – What Took You So Long was the single that announced them to anyone and everyone anywhere in Britain. A slightly more down-tempo offering than their past two singles, What Took You So Long manages to quieten the bark to introduce the bite. The single follows a pretty similar theme to Cavorting and Acrylic, a comment on young people of today, but not in the “young folk ain’t what they used to be” sense, more a well informed and aware attack at the bedroom exiles rattling their laptop keyboards up and down the nation. After a crescendo intro, the opening lines set the tone for the rest of the song: “You spend too much time sat in your bedroom on your PC, are you sure you couldn’t have found the time? Swallowed your pride admitted your jealousy.” Beautifully produced with tinges of organ, Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, Morrissey, Kaiser Chiefs etc) has waved a mark of magic across this track and the polished and full sound of the recording more than marries the lyrics and the tightness of the band’s playing in the song. For me, “What Took You So Long” is the defining song of the Courteeners thus far – their anthem. Innovative, up to date, witty and sharp, it is everything that the bands of today should be doing instead of singing about whether or not to Take Her Back or musing on How To Save A Life, No hype nor hyperbole does them justice. B-side “Slow Down” is another stellar track and more than worthy of a place on the album if it wasn’t a b-side. As well as being a master lyricist, Fray also yet again manages to captivate the listener with another engaging opening line – “If you’re all not careful you might rob us of this local treasure”. I’m not quite sure as a listener who or what this song is about, what with the first verse seemingly being about press pressure and a fair current on the hype at the time they were subject to, but the second verse being about something completely different, it appears, and about the pleasure of a live performance being comparable to double dropping. Or maybe I misunderstood the point. Either way, as with a lot of great pop songs, lack of understanding the songs lyrics doesn’t lessen the impact or the quality.

Their best single yet? Definitely. Single of the year? Maybe. 9/10