Round Records 2016
Intense ‘n’ infectious: vehicle for Ginger Wildheart’s pop impulses delivers second set of epistles – tuneful enough to die for.
Hey! Hello! Too!
A murderous bunny on the cover of this record speaks volumes of its hyperactive killer content, but brazen titles such as “Loud And Fucking Clear” can’t convey the whole spectrum of the WILDHEARTS’ offshoot. After all, any British band that decide to cover SAILOR’s “Glass Of Champagne” instead of THE POGUES’ “Streams Of Whisky” must have a sybaritic side and good taste. So if the catchy chorus and relentless beat of opener “All Around The World” don’t go to your head, bubbly-way – a juxtaposition of butterfly and barfly adding weight to the impact – the glam riff and stomp of equally boisterous “This Ain’t Love” or heavy “Let’s Get Emotional” will. If they won’t, the question of “What the hell is wrong with you?” wouldn’t be a rhetorical one.
And while there’s not much individuality in many a voice delivering the aforementioned message, most of the songs have it in spades and, although they’re pumped up with teenage rampage, “Kids” should find family listeners nod approvingly to the groove. Reproduction is the real life? Quite possibly, and the vibes-spiced “Forever Young” reproduces generic anthemic refrains with all the seriousness the group can muster without bursting into giggles, but “Can’t Stand You (Hurting Me)” has no laughter in its anti-violence stance. Countering that, “Body Parts” is an affectionate confession of a purely physical kind whose pulse flows into “Perfect” to outline the ensemble’s aspirations. Yet since the band’s flaws are their forte, they’re good as they are.
****1/3
