Ginger - Ten (Two)

Ginger of The Wildhearts has just recently put out a compilation album that covers the first ten years of his solo work, aptly called Ten. Now, I’ll be honest. Despite being a massive Wildhearts fan, I’ve never properly gotten around to listening to Ginger’s solo output. You can’t blame me when there’s such of a wealth of stellar Wildhearts material to work through. However, as a companion to Ten, Ginger and co have picked an additional ten tracks that wouldn’t fit the compilation. Furthermore, they're being offered online for free. How delightful. If, like me, you simply haven’t had a chance to give Ginger’s solo material a fair shake, Ten (Two) provides an exemplary opportunity to do so. Expect something a bit more mellow and arguably more pop-oriented than The Wildhearts, but no less infectiously catchy. Go on, how often is it you get good music for free (...without breaking the law)?

Download Ten (Two) at http://gingerwildheart.bandcamp.com

The Wildhearts - Chutzpah! Jnr

When it comes to being prolific, few bands rival The Wildhearts’ ability to continually put out singles, albums and EPs. Hot on the heels of their latest release Chutzpah! comes a tour-only CD loaded with eight bonus tracks from the same sessions. Anyone who has followed the Hearts’ extensive release of singles will be well aware that the B-sides and unreleased tracks from their albums are not a result of a lack of quality, with some of the band’s best and most famous tracks never seeing release on an album. In this case, the B-sides that compose Chutzpah! Jnr are no different. Cuts like ‘The Snake, The Lion, The Monkey and The Spider’ and ‘All That Zen’ are as good as anything on Chutzpah!, boasting thumping riffs, slick production and hooks galore. Unsurprisingly, everything has quite a similar style to the ‘father CD’ of Chutpzah!, the main exception being ‘Vernix’ which seems to be an identity crisis in musical form (and is possibly this compilation’s only dip due its very mish-mashed stylings). However, tracks such as ‘Under The Waves’ are amongst some of song-writer Ginger’s best, boasting an ethereal and restrained quality rare to most Wildhearts tracks.

If this release had two or three more tracks, it would certainly be worthy of being the next Wildhearts album. However, only being around 26 minutes, it makes a nice little collectible bonus for those able to pick it up.

The Wildhearts - Chutzpah!

The Wildhearts are rarely ones to follow trends, but you could be forgiven in thinking that Chutzpah!, the newest release from Ginger and company, was about to break that tradition with its honed production and hooky pop-rock stylings. However, few bands ooze charisma like the ‘Hearts and Chutzpah! remains yet another testament to their ability to write infectious rock.

Never having been a straight forward rock band, the tracks on Chutzpah! are as stylistically eclectic as ever. Although a lot of it can be described as modern rock with an early 90s flare, there are moments where you find yourself rewinding the last thirty seconds of a song in order to comprehend what just happened. Amusingly titled ‘You Are Proof That Not All Woman Are Insane’ seems to almost spontaneously combust at the end, with a mix of drudging heavy metal riffs and a corruption of children’s nursery rhyme ‘Frère Jacques’ being recited over the top. The introduction of ‘Low Energy Vortex’ quickly changes from a movingly unassuming piano chord progression to a heavy, almost funk-metal riff before fusing the juxtapositions together in an addictive chorus. The record is littered with moments like these, displaying The Wildhearts are still more than able to meld different styles together seamlessly and without alienating the listener.

The album is noticeably very well produced, with the instrumentation being polished to perfection. Musically, Chutzpah! quite literally shines with a great mix of crunchy sounding riffs and beautifully melodious leads accentuated in the best way possible. The only minor gripe with this is Ginger’s vocals seem to be overly clean. Whilst this certainly seems appropriate for lighter tracks like ‘You Took The Sunshine From New York’, Ginger’s rough-edged bite is unfortunately a rarity throughout. Nevertheless, each Wildhearts album seems to have a distinctive feel to it and Chutzpah! is no different in this regard, boasting possibly their fullest and most bombastic sound yet.

It is reassuring to know that even when most other music is doing little more than to distract you from (and worsen) your increasing tinnitus, The Wildhearts are able to rise above the filler. Chutzpah! will hold your attention from the abrasive opening of ‘The Jackson Whites’ to the tuneful end of its title track and leave you smiling as you inevitably play the album again and again.

The Wildhearts - Shepherd's Bush Empire 1/10/09

(picture shamelessly stolen from glasswerk.co.uk)

The Shepherd’s Bush Empire is utterly packed as the support bands finish and everyone eagerly anticipates the main act. As is a bit of a fad nowadays, The Wildhearts start their set by playing the entirety of their new album in full. Often this would be considered a risky move – after all, who goes to see a band who have been around for nigh on twenty years just to hear the songs they’re least familiar with? But when the material is as strong as that of Chutzpah!, their newest release, it’s more than a welcome addition to the set. As the band blaze through ‘The Jackson Whites’ and the familiar banner of the Smiley-Bones logo gazes on the crowd, everyone is utterly enamoured by what they’re witnessing. This is a band truly on top form, excited to be on the stage and doing more than just merely going through the motions. The new material comes off great in a live setting, although is almost slightly too dependent on a variety of backing tracks in order to accurately recreate the studio recordings. Not the longest of albums, the band speed through Chutzpah! in what seems like no time at all, leaving, as iconic front-man Ginger quips, more time for the classics.

Every gig of this tour was unique in that the band were unaware of what classics they were going to play in the second half until they were handed a set list midway through the night. Ginger cheekily remarks that we’re in for a treat as he peruses the stellar list he’s just been handed before calmly beginning the distinctive arpeggiated chords of ‘Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes’. At those few beginning notes, the crowd absolutely explodes and quite rightly. From there, we are treated to such classics as homage to rock ’29 X The Pain’, the confessional ‘Sick Of Drugs’ and the hilariously punk ‘Caffeine Bomb’ amongst various others. As is standard for The Wildhearts, the songs are interrupted with some light-hearted banter from the band and, for some reason, a few repeated versions of the ‘Little Einsteins’ cartoon theme (don’t ask). As the night draws to an end, the crowd completely scream the roof off with set finisher and Wildhearts classic ‘I Wanna Go Where The People Go’. Unfortunately the gig is over almost as quickly as it had begun.

Two decades in to their career, The Wildhearts clearly still know how to deliver the goods live. Every note is played with as much conviction as if they still had something to prove, giving most bands half their age a run for their money and giving the crowd what they want – rock and roll with balls.