The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed - Song By Song · Words by Kris Coverdale
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'Nexus Icon' opens with an angry Ginger solo vocal and comes packing rhythm changes, a low-fi Groop Dogdrill-esque noisy feel and an overriding sense of urgency. There's a lot of action packed into its two and a half minutes and as Ginger says 'if someone's gonna die it ain't gonna to be me'.
'Only Love' is standout pure pop dedicated to being in love - no matter what with; in contrast to 'Nexus Icon' you can take this one home to meet your parents, not least because it sounds so good it could have been written in the 70's. I was hooked on this song after just one listen and the good news is that it keeps getting better and better, from the massive gospel choruses to the oh-so-instant verses this is chart-busting material. If this is 'Only Love' then count me in!
'Someone Who Won't Let Me Go' combines the traditional Cheap Trick influenced chugging Wildhearts feel ('Beautiful Me, Beautiful You' style) with the production know-how and dynamics gained from 'Black Leather Mojo'. The results are special, as all those who saw the recent Wildhearts tours (or have checked out the soundclip) can testify to.
'Vanilla Radio' you know all about that already right, "where's my Elvis and all that"? Well not quite: in the gap before the album it's been working out and now sounds bigger, dirtier and nastier than its previous incarnation, with guitars that would bite your hand off and a bassline which rattles your bowels and destroys your car speakers. We already know this as a great song, and this version hones the song to perfection.
'One Love, One Life' should take people by surprise, slow and tuneful with a low key backing and barely a hint of distortion. All that time experimenting with the singles club has obviously been paying off as this may become a surprise favourite for a lot of people.
Following from 'One Love...' into 'Get Your Groove On' is like unexpectedly stepping on a mantrap in a child's ballpool. It leaps out of the blocks at you like a rottweiler after a burglar, with a frenzied political rant from Andy Cairns leading into a 'Moodswings... / Shut Your Fucking Mouth...' style guitar barrage. The uncanny thing is the result is one of the catchiest bits of hardcore metal in far too long.
Recent chart entry 'So Into You' has like 'Vanilla Radio' undergone the revamp treatment. It's still infectiously melodic, with lyrics to die for, but new improved So Into You now features entire arsefuls of bottom end and layers of extra guitars that would put Brian May to shame.
'There's Only One Hell' seems like the soundtrack to the cover art and defines everything that's great about this album: joyous choruses masking bitter lyrics, a traditional introductory Wildhearts bag of riffs and the inbuilt sense of when to take it simple and when to soar that Ginger brings to all his songs. This is the song from the album I most often find running around my head.
'It's All Up To Me' continues the groove set out from 'There's Only One Hell', and Ginger makes songs this good look effortless. You can't predict where his melodies will go next, but you know it'll a fun ride, the drumming is at times frenetic, the guitars scintillating and the vocal is very confident. It also features the classic line 'They say the harder they come, they say the harder they fall; this ones hard as a hand grenade in a cannonball'.
'Out from the Inside' is a CJ penned song, imbibed with lashings of the Jelly's, but toughened within. Highlights include summery lyrics - 'climbing up a rainbow' anyone - driving guitars (or is that guitars to drive to?) and the joy of CJ's shiny vocals.
'Top of The World' is the final track and you'd think they would be winding down, but instead go out with a bang! This is another that is already on its way to classic status following the recent tours and its album incarnation is everything the live shows promised.
