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While Maynard James Keenan is getting all the column inches from hipster broadsheets who wouldn’t normally give rock or metal the time of day, The Wildhearts have quietly gone about their business and produced not only the comeback album of the last decade, but perhaps the undisputed album of the year. When the new Tool album finally arrives, sit back and laugh as everyone falls over each other to get in line and bow down. In the meantime we have ‘Renaissance Men’ to drool over. Ten tracks, one for each year since the last studio album, ‘¡Chutzpah!’, was released.
Featuring the classic fab four line-up of Ginger, CJ, Ritch and Danny, ‘Renaissance Men’ is everything you would expect a Wildhearts album to sound like in 2019, and much more. The first taste came with the release of lead track ‘Dislocated’ in February this year. Christ it exploded from the speakers! The wall of Motorhead-esque riffs, Ginger’s mix of harsh and clean vocals, Danny and Ritch back together side by side, and some of the most uplifting backing vocals you’ll hear today. The Wildhearts were back, but could the album live up to the early promise that ‘Dislocated’ showed? Quick answer is a resounding yes it does. And then some.
‘Dislocated’ kicks the album off and as the speed of it hits, you’ll find yourself turning the volume way up. It worked well as a standalone single back in February, alongside the others on ‘Renaissance Men’ it makes perfect sense. The state of the world today, there is a lot today to be angry about, but very few bands use their platform to sing about what’s going on. Not The Wildhearts, this is an anger fuelled album and when Ginger sings “I feel dislocated from your world” then you know he means it. ‘Let ‘Em Go’ follows on and features a guest appearance from the man himself Frank Turner. The throbbing basslines from Danny McCormack fuel the urgency of this almost celebratory realisation that sometimes you’re better off alone. The title track kicks off with the lyric “So here we are again”, and up and down the country grown men have something in their eyes. Maybe it’s the journey that the individual band members have had to take to get to this stage, but there is something about those five words that really strike a chord.
Most people will be able to identify with parts of Fine Art Of Deception’. Ginger spits out cliched comments that some of us have either used or been on the receiving end of; “When I say there’s nothing else on my mind…when I say you can rely on me..when I say there’s nowhere else I’d rather be..” Each statement is met by a loud and proud “Bullshit!” by the other band members, a brutally honest short, sharp few minutes. If you follow Ginger on Twitter then you will be aware of his battle with mental health issues and getting treatment. ‘Diagnosis’ is a heartfelt retort to the state of mental services in this country and the control that large pharmaceutical companies have over the NHS. It makes more sense in five minutes than a decades worth of false promises from politicians and industry experts alike.
The ferocity of ‘My Kinda Movie’ will knock you against the wall, and paired with ‘Little Flower’, both are perfect examples of how The Wildhearts can change tact with a click of the fingers. Both are catchy as hell and pit-inducing, the dual vocals from Ginger and CJ on the latter are especially memorable. ‘Emergency (Fentanyl Babylon)’ is two and a half minutes of fury towards the opiate crisis and the reliance of prescription drugs. The punk-meets-thrash shows up many supposed heavier metal bands as merely going through the motions. How do you follow that up? With the standout track ‘My Side Of The Bed’ that’s how. Squeeze’s ‘Up The Junction’ with Quo sized boogie and lyrics so on point that they will have you rewinding them to make sure that you heard them correctly. ‘My Side Of The Bed’ is one of those moments that you can only imagine Ginger Wildheart singing. The only one with the integrity to do so.
“One-two fuck you” brings the band back in on closing track ‘Pilo Erection’. The perfect title really, because when Ginger sings “Don’t be scared of me, just be there for me” the listener will surely get goosebumps. Like the title track, you may find a little bit of dust in your eyes, especially when he adds “I’m someone to turn to when the world looks terrifying”.
The Wildhearts have thrown the first molotov cocktail in the revolution against the bland, it’s now up to everyone else to follow suit. Five months into 2019 and already we have the album that other bands will need to knock of it’s perch if they want the coveted “album of the year” title.
Review – Dave
