It would be an understatement to say I was gutted when there was no post that day. So, bit late, I thought. It'll be here tomorrow, right? Well, no. Wednesday came, and dispite a large, parcel-sized thud ringing in my ears at 11.30, there was bugger all for me at the door. FUCK YOU, PLAY!! Anyway, it arrived yesterday and I put it straight on for listening. First listen was a great one! Which is a relief due to the time it took me to really get into the last album. Almost immediately after my first listen, I was rudely interrupted by a friend at the door, and was out all day... so I had to make up for it yesterday evening and breezed excitedly though it another six or so times before hitting the sack (where I listened to it one more time for good measure!). It's a pretty short album, which is fantastic - gone is the myriad of songs with four minute-riff fests. (Nothing wrong with riff fests... just four minute ones..)
Onto the album in question, 'Chutzpah!'. Great title for an album - it's a hebrew word that has something to do with energy or something along those lines. This is probably the first time Ginger has taken a (slightly) more backseat role through some of the album, allowing bassist Scott Sorry to perform a song he wrote alongside the other tracks, and it notably the first (though download-only at the moment) single for the album. CJ is still providing those soaring harmonies that always seem to really make Ginger sound better and better (or maybe he's just getting better generally!) and Ritch as ever with a sound, heavy drumming performance - certainly shows off some flare in a few songs here.
Chutzpah! songlist:
1- The Jackson Whites (3:26)
2- Plastic Jebus (3:16)
3- The Only One (3:49)
4- John Of Violence (3:51)
5- You Are Proof That Not All Women Are Insane (2:49)
6- Tim Smith (3:28)
7- Low Energy Vortex (3:28)
8- You Took The Sunshine From New York (3:39)
9- Mazel Tov Cocktail (2:58)
10- Chutzpah (5:46)
-Total Running Time- (36:34)
The Jackson Whites is a real teeth kicker-outer. The chorus parts are incredibly infectious, and the main riff is erection inducing. As a scottish frenchman would say: "Instant dur-sur!". Don't ask. A highlight of the album, hopefully a future single, and future classic the 'hearts repitoire of live songs.
Plastic Jebus is another classic though has flaws unlike the first track. The first minute or so is as brilliant, if not even better than the opener. However, the song is very chorus-reliant and the arrangement has been done in such a way that there's only one verse. The verse is brilliant, so why not do two or three?? Still a bit surprised at this. However, that is not to knock the chorus. In this song the chorus is sung by Scott, and sounds superb. A definate chant-a-thon at shows, and although sounding a little more commercial than before, the Wildhearts are still retaining their signature guitar/drum complements within a kick-arse song.
Onto the download-only single now, The Only One is a song that Scott has written and performed and stands out as a heavy ballad. I didn't particularly like the song when I first heard it a week or more ago, but it does fit the album nicely. Ritch's drumming should be complimented here; marching style that explodes every so often as we hit the chorus. The writting here is definately impressive and this turns out to be one of the most memorable songs on the album.
John Of Violence for me has had sort of the opposite effect to the previous track. It was in fact one of my favourites at first, but again suffers in my opinion to the overall arrangement. It is a great song that could have been made better if the the last minute was more like the first. Ginger's scream of 'JOHN OF VIOLENCE' at the end of the first chorus really gets the head moving, but that's the only time that climax happens. Seems silly to moan about the song because of that, but it could have been so much better! The little solo/bassline does make up for the rather small quip I have, and it is a decent song overall.. (am I arguing with myself again?)
The next song, You Are Proof That Not All Women Are Insane has a good tune, but not what i'd consider vintage 'hearts. I would think this would definately be a track that appears live often, and probably highly enjoyable. The song topic harks back to ye olde days of 'Miles Away Girl', yet doesn't have the complex nature that it showed some fifteen years ago. The ending is amusing though; sounding like Japanese school girls singing a french nursery rhyme... i'd love to hear that live.
Tim Smith is what I would assume to be a tribute to the Cardiacs fella who seems to always work very closely with the Wildhearts and has done for many years. This stands out has a heavy, scorcher of a track. The heaviness doesn't last long though, as we go into a melodic, hallelujia-clad chorus. [Pardon spelling]. This is the sort of song arrangement that should have been on the last album, just keep those track times down!
Low Energy Vortex is next. When I first heard this I was surprised I hadn't heard many comments about this track from reviewers... it's probably my overall favourite on here. A fairly bogstandard song after the peaceful piano intro. However, the chorus is possibly one of the best choruses i've heard from them in a long while.
Plastic Jebus is another classic though has flaws unlike the first track. The first minute or so is as brilliant, if not even better than the opener. However, the song is very chorus-reliant and the arrangement has been done in such a way that there's only one verse. The verse is brilliant, so why not do two or three?? Still a bit surprised at this. However, that is not to knock the chorus. In this song the chorus is sung by Scott, and sounds superb. A definate chant-a-thon at shows, and although sounding a little more commercial than before, the Wildhearts are still retaining their signature guitar/drum complements within a kick-arse song.
Onto the download-only single now, The Only One is a song that Scott has written and performed and stands out as a heavy ballad. I didn't particularly like the song when I first heard it a week or more ago, but it does fit the album nicely. Ritch's drumming should be complimented here; marching style that explodes every so often as we hit the chorus. The writting here is definately impressive and this turns out to be one of the most memorable songs on the album.
John Of Violence for me has had sort of the opposite effect to the previous track. It was in fact one of my favourites at first, but again suffers in my opinion to the overall arrangement. It is a great song that could have been made better if the the last minute was more like the first. Ginger's scream of 'JOHN OF VIOLENCE' at the end of the first chorus really gets the head moving, but that's the only time that climax happens. Seems silly to moan about the song because of that, but it could have been so much better! The little solo/bassline does make up for the rather small quip I have, and it is a decent song overall.. (am I arguing with myself again?)
The next song, You Are Proof That Not All Women Are Insane has a good tune, but not what i'd consider vintage 'hearts. I would think this would definately be a track that appears live often, and probably highly enjoyable. The song topic harks back to ye olde days of 'Miles Away Girl', yet doesn't have the complex nature that it showed some fifteen years ago. The ending is amusing though; sounding like Japanese school girls singing a french nursery rhyme... i'd love to hear that live.
Tim Smith is what I would assume to be a tribute to the Cardiacs fella who seems to always work very closely with the Wildhearts and has done for many years. This stands out has a heavy, scorcher of a track. The heaviness doesn't last long though, as we go into a melodic, hallelujia-clad chorus. [Pardon spelling]. This is the sort of song arrangement that should have been on the last album, just keep those track times down!
Low Energy Vortex is next. When I first heard this I was surprised I hadn't heard many comments about this track from reviewers... it's probably my overall favourite on here. A fairly bogstandard song after the peaceful piano intro. However, the chorus is possibly one of the best choruses i've heard from them in a long while.
Shallow breathing makes it so hard to fight this
The calmest storm could blow me away
Stop the bleeding before you start a crisis
and keep the poison potent as it courses through my veins
The calmest storm could blow me away
Stop the bleeding before you start a crisis
and keep the poison potent as it courses through my veins
The next song has constantly made me laugh. You took the Sunshine from New York sounds fairly poppy, but as we know, Ginger is the master with that pen. Great imagery used in both verses, and just generally a brilliantly structured song.
Butter coconut as a welcome smell
Baby pigeon seed on the window sill
Kitchen cupboard full of granola bars
Walking through the city beneath the stars
And loving every dog on the Lower East side
Fighting for the bill in the taxi ride
Your pink knickers sit on the living room floor
'Cause noone wants to clean them up no more
Tiny little squares of Green and Blacks
Watching DVDs of tits and ass
Long summer days on Rockaway Beach
Surprisingly hard and far to reach
Homies in a box for fifty cents
The squirrels kinda wondered where you went
The bathroom seems a little light on stuff
The bed's unmade and the TV's off
This is only part of some of the great lyrics in this song, the bridge near the end and chorus are fantastic also.
Next we have the wonderfully named Mazel Tov Cocktail. Sounds to be a fairly generic hard rock song, but once again, we have a killer chorus and probably one of the highlights of future live show. A feel-good tune and if I had to choose, probably my favourite on the album.
The finalé is of course, Chutzpah! Some thrash metal for everyone here, but mixed with an electro-pop chorus? "Where did that come from!?" Sounding like a fusion of Suckerpunch and Destroy All Monsters with the first and only riff filling part. I'm not going to complain about this one though, since it doesn't last that long, and it is quite interesting with the off-beat parts through some excellent Ritchie drums. Middle section sounds like a mini-variation of Metallica's 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' complete with Quasimodo's bells.
There aren't particularly any 'bad' songs on here, just some that could have been better. However, it's a step forward from their last record, and considering i'm still listening to it now after many, many listens already, it's gotta be a great album. Also, from information supplied on their official site, it seems that there is a resounding 'yes' for the band to play the whole album (plus oldies) on their upcoming tour. I'm all for it! Gather your Chutzpah!
Baby pigeon seed on the window sill
Kitchen cupboard full of granola bars
Walking through the city beneath the stars
And loving every dog on the Lower East side
Fighting for the bill in the taxi ride
Your pink knickers sit on the living room floor
'Cause noone wants to clean them up no more
Tiny little squares of Green and Blacks
Watching DVDs of tits and ass
Long summer days on Rockaway Beach
Surprisingly hard and far to reach
Homies in a box for fifty cents
The squirrels kinda wondered where you went
The bathroom seems a little light on stuff
The bed's unmade and the TV's off
This is only part of some of the great lyrics in this song, the bridge near the end and chorus are fantastic also.
Next we have the wonderfully named Mazel Tov Cocktail. Sounds to be a fairly generic hard rock song, but once again, we have a killer chorus and probably one of the highlights of future live show. A feel-good tune and if I had to choose, probably my favourite on the album.
The finalé is of course, Chutzpah! Some thrash metal for everyone here, but mixed with an electro-pop chorus? "Where did that come from!?" Sounding like a fusion of Suckerpunch and Destroy All Monsters with the first and only riff filling part. I'm not going to complain about this one though, since it doesn't last that long, and it is quite interesting with the off-beat parts through some excellent Ritchie drums. Middle section sounds like a mini-variation of Metallica's 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' complete with Quasimodo's bells.
There aren't particularly any 'bad' songs on here, just some that could have been better. However, it's a step forward from their last record, and considering i'm still listening to it now after many, many listens already, it's gotta be a great album. Also, from information supplied on their official site, it seems that there is a resounding 'yes' for the band to play the whole album (plus oldies) on their upcoming tour. I'm all for it! Gather your Chutzpah!
SCORE: 9/10
