Today the Long Blondes issued this statement, confirming what seemed like an inevitable split:

We have decided to call it a day.

Dorian xxx

It is genuinely very sad, as there were many, many genius things about this band. Here are five of our favourites.

1.They started off all Spector pop and then ditched it after one single, way, way before Glasvegas even got a whiff of the Shangri-Las and reverb.

2.They popularised unglamorous towns and landmarks of the United Kingdom. Not only did they have a song about Peterborough train station (called Peterborough) but they also managed to get a mention of Great Yarmouth in the very same song.

3.They released one of their best songs, Autonomy Boy, on a vinyl-only split single and then never bothered with it again, live or otherwise, until this week's Singles compilations. It was good because it revived the old classic line about a man in uniform but instead of making it all war-sinister like Gang Of Four, they made it pervy.

4.They wrote a whole song (Madame Ray) about artist / war photographer / model / muse Lee Miller, and for the middle eight used a huge chunk of the letter Man Ray sent her, on the back of a photograph of her eye, after she had dumped him. Officially Good Pretentious.

5.They did a Christmas song before they had even really released a proper proper single, which shows that they were thinking like pop stars should always think, and not just saving the sleigh bells for when they needed an ego boost after the second album only sold three million not five. Also it mentioned fish & chips as a viable Christmas tea, which sounds good to me.

The Long Blondes' Singles is out on Rough Trade today (October 20).

Kate wrote a piece for us ages ago about why she loves Lee Miller. It is here and well worth a read.