something i wrote for Alternative Ballpark
Album of the Week, to the Surprise of not many, is RENAISSANCE MEN by the Wildhearts.
It's that classic Wildhearts line up that did that one ep ( cos Ritch wasn't on 'Earth Vs Th Wildhearts' and CJ was gone before Fishing for Luckies was released) and some b-sides (Ritch wasn't back when they did 'The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed' ) and technically only one of Danny's legs made it back. It's the Wildhearts. They're an ongoing mutation and we love them for it.
It's been 10 of your Earth Years since their last album proper, in which time Scott got a nasty head cancer thing but he's getting better now and they did a few live albums.
ALL of the WILDHEARTS FANS BEING ARE HAPPY which is no mean feat and are saying it is album of the year because they haven't heard 'The Spell' by Cellar Darling but it is DEFINITELY album of the week. It got positions and everything. Due to the magic of pre-ordering meaning mine got to me after the shops and america and undiscovered tribes in the Outback so i'd heard a lot of opinions setting the bar high before hearing it.
The Wildhearts already did an album called 'Riff after Riff after Motherfucking Riff' and this is like that but chorus after chorus after Father-troubling chorus. Its shifts between vitriol, anger and rage on 'Dislocated' and 'Diagnosis'and effervescent optimism on 'Pilo Erection' and the title track and often both in one ( Let 'Em Go and My Little Flower' )
'Dislocated' powers in all sweat and puke before the soul comes to the surface, 'Let' Em Go' is terrace chants and a sweary FU to those no longer needed in your lives motoring along until the jarringly jaunty title track reminds you you never know what's coming next with the Wildhearts. There's no 10 minutes plus prog work outs, metallica-offs or tipping of the hat to more avant garde influences this time round, keeping mainly to pop length tracks but there's plenty of shades and tones to keep everything fresh.
Lyrically, there's brutal honesty as ever, 'Dislocated' and 'Diagnosis' tackling Gingers issues with Mental Health, "You are not your Diagnosis' being a powerful and affirming lyric coupled with an AC/DC on their best behaviour slab of pure rock. 'The Fine Art of Deception' also has lyrics that would be harder for a younger man to writ and whilst no-ones ever going to take Ginger's man-card away, there may at least be a stewards enquiry into some of the trade secrets here. CJ also gets in on it on his lone contribution to the album ( the lion's share being penned by Ginger ) on 'My Little Flower' - whilst ostensibly about happiness in a new relationship after the ending of another shows the flip side to that : " I walked away from my son now I've got to be strong "
'Emergency (Fentanyl Babylon)' is about a drug so alarming even The Wildhearts want it banned and alongside 'My Kinda Movie' is one of the speedier tracks, recalling 'Drinking about Life' or 'Shut your Fucking Mouth and Use your Fucking Brain' from the early mid-90's days, with Pilo Erection, an ode to finding joy in music, closes the album with moments reminiscent of CJ and Danny's away-from-the-Wildhearts off-shoots Honeycrack and the Yo-Yo's respectively.
HMV had sold out but should have restocked now. Go on, treat yourself ...
It's that classic Wildhearts line up that did that one ep ( cos Ritch wasn't on 'Earth Vs Th Wildhearts' and CJ was gone before Fishing for Luckies was released) and some b-sides (Ritch wasn't back when they did 'The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed' ) and technically only one of Danny's legs made it back. It's the Wildhearts. They're an ongoing mutation and we love them for it.
It's been 10 of your Earth Years since their last album proper, in which time Scott got a nasty head cancer thing but he's getting better now and they did a few live albums.
ALL of the WILDHEARTS FANS BEING ARE HAPPY which is no mean feat and are saying it is album of the year because they haven't heard 'The Spell' by Cellar Darling but it is DEFINITELY album of the week. It got positions and everything. Due to the magic of pre-ordering meaning mine got to me after the shops and america and undiscovered tribes in the Outback so i'd heard a lot of opinions setting the bar high before hearing it.
The Wildhearts already did an album called 'Riff after Riff after Motherfucking Riff' and this is like that but chorus after chorus after Father-troubling chorus. Its shifts between vitriol, anger and rage on 'Dislocated' and 'Diagnosis'and effervescent optimism on 'Pilo Erection' and the title track and often both in one ( Let 'Em Go and My Little Flower' )
'Dislocated' powers in all sweat and puke before the soul comes to the surface, 'Let' Em Go' is terrace chants and a sweary FU to those no longer needed in your lives motoring along until the jarringly jaunty title track reminds you you never know what's coming next with the Wildhearts. There's no 10 minutes plus prog work outs, metallica-offs or tipping of the hat to more avant garde influences this time round, keeping mainly to pop length tracks but there's plenty of shades and tones to keep everything fresh.
Lyrically, there's brutal honesty as ever, 'Dislocated' and 'Diagnosis' tackling Gingers issues with Mental Health, "You are not your Diagnosis' being a powerful and affirming lyric coupled with an AC/DC on their best behaviour slab of pure rock. 'The Fine Art of Deception' also has lyrics that would be harder for a younger man to writ and whilst no-ones ever going to take Ginger's man-card away, there may at least be a stewards enquiry into some of the trade secrets here. CJ also gets in on it on his lone contribution to the album ( the lion's share being penned by Ginger ) on 'My Little Flower' - whilst ostensibly about happiness in a new relationship after the ending of another shows the flip side to that : " I walked away from my son now I've got to be strong "
'Emergency (Fentanyl Babylon)' is about a drug so alarming even The Wildhearts want it banned and alongside 'My Kinda Movie' is one of the speedier tracks, recalling 'Drinking about Life' or 'Shut your Fucking Mouth and Use your Fucking Brain' from the early mid-90's days, with Pilo Erection, an ode to finding joy in music, closes the album with moments reminiscent of CJ and Danny's away-from-the-Wildhearts off-shoots Honeycrack and the Yo-Yo's respectively.
HMV had sold out but should have restocked now. Go on, treat yourself ...