deserve, then the Wildhearts must surely be near the top of the list. I honestly thought their live album, 2004’s ‘The Wildhearts Strike Back’ would be their ‘No Sleep’ moment, and I said so in my review at the time, but it was not to be. Is it because of the many line-up changes and breaks they have had, or the drugs and addictions, or are they too pop for the metal crowd and vice versa? All I know is that Ginger is a stunning songwriter and frontman who knows how to pump out anthem after anthem and here, with yet another new line-up, we have another cracking album.
He has brought back former bassist Random Jon Poole, who last played with the band in 2018, plus guitarist Ben Marsden and drummer Pontus Snibb, and the ten songs show Ginger has lost none of his skills of writing songs with singalong choruses, harmonies and wonderful hooks. Is it the best album they have ever released? Probably not, but they have never truly been at their best in the studio and are much better in concert (if you ever come across a copy of Ginger’s 2001 album ‘Grievous Acoustic Behaviour’ you need to grab it immediately), but there is no doubt this is a blast from beginning to end. Produced by Jim Pinder (Bring Me The Horizon, While She Sleeps) and mixed by Pinder and Carl Bown (Trivium, Machine Head), the sound is great, the new guys have settled in and know what is expected of them and only time will tell if this is a long-term gig for them or not (Ginger has a habit of moving to other projects, or shifting the line-up) and it is Jon’s fourth time with the band (talking of solo projects, his 1994 album ‘What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body?’ is awesome). No matter what the future holds, yet again Ginger has mixed pop with dirty melodic rock in a way which only he ever manages to achieve. 8/10 by Kev Rowland
