The Wildhearts: Renaissance Men

Ten years on from Chutzpah! I think most of us had maybe, just maybe let go of the thought of new music from The Wildhearts; a succession of stunning live shows left to nourish the ears and satisfy the soul. However, with the return of bassist Danny McCormack to the ranks and song writer in chief, Ginger Wildheart, finding himself grinding out material that he himself couldn’t deny sounded like The Wildhearts, we are now in the presence of Renaissance Men and how lucky we are.

“Dislocated� introduced us to this album a few months ago, a relentless clubbing of riffs and aggression that wasn’t just happy to leave you feeling bruised and battered, instead planting a seed so deep in the mind that the chorus line was sure to become your new subliminal message. With a lyric recounting the dislocation from the ‘real’ world that so many of us feel these days, this really should be the new national anthem. Any worries that the wild ones had shot their bolt with that single are quickly laughed out of town, the pummelling drums from Ritch leaving no doubt that not only have he and Danny locked into place on stage like no time has passed since they last powered this beast together, but the studio chemistry between them is still as caustic and explosive as ever. The inimitable Frank Turner lends a hand here, but he’s the cherry on top of this chanting, jostling monster of a track that’s just crying out to be sung live by the Wildhearts choir - and oh, those vocal harmonies!!!! And as if that wasn’t enough, then a jangle of guitars that could only be provided by CJ Wildheart and Ginger, are proud, loud and covered in sticky, lovely sugary melodies as this unashamed celebration of the band detonates with a powering pop that’ll simply leave you stunned and grinning.

Already The Wildhearts have created a problem for themselves, the throb and bob of “Fine Art Of Deception� - all about the human condition of broken promises - announcing with the chant of ‘bullshit’ that four songs into this album, each and every track is just begging to be added to the band’s already brimming set list. Ginger has never been afraid to tackle the tough subjects and his and others struggles with mental health and the system that’s meant to help people in that situation, but doesn’t, is rammed into head on with “Diagnosis�; the clarion call of ‘You are not your diagnosis’ backed up by the chant of ‘You are not an animal… you are a human being!’ That it comes wrapped in a chorus the size of Belgium and preceded by the best, building intro since Status Quo offered you “Whatever You Want� makes for the perfect illustration of the genius being played out here.

No one wants to read a review that quickly turns into a list of songs, but with the punk shout of “My Kinda Movie� so full on that it suddenly makes sense of the Endless Nameless era of this band, and “Little Flower� the sort of brutal caress that many others try to do with such conviction but fail, it’s simply impossible not to name check each and every track here, purely because every single one leaves your jaw on the floor. “Emergency (Fentanyl Babylon)� is fast, frantic and fulfilling, those unmistakable ‘Heart melodies wrapped into glistening riffs and hooks, before “My Side Of The Bed� somehow combines Cardiacs to Status Quo while they Gabba-Gabba-Hey into The Ramones. Leaving “Pilo Erection� to stomp out a riff so gargantuan that it ate Godzilla for breakfast and then wreaked havoc across the world for lunch.

Close the polls, remove the ballot boxes and cancel all votes, ladies and gentlemen, there’s no competition, we already have our album of the year, maybe our album of the decade. This is The Wildhearts, Renaissance Men for sure.

Track Listing
1. Dislocated
2. Let ‘Em Go 
3. The Renaissance Men
4. Fine Art of Deception
5. Diagnosis
6. My Kinda Movie
7. Little Flower
8. Emergency (Fentanyl Babylon)
9. My Side Of The Bed
10. Pilo Erection

Added: April 30th 2019
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: TheWildhearts.com
Hits: 9400
Language: english

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