Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners – Self Titled

For the benefit of anyone who has been living in a cave for the last 30 odd years, Ginger Wildheart is / was / might be again, the enigmatic, prolific, flawed genius leader / singer / guitarist / songwriter of the greatest (no, seriously) Rock ‘N Roll band of the past 30 years. However, as has been the ongoing drama throughout their career, The Wildhearts have split up again, but fear not, as we have a panacea, in another incarnation from the songwriting god himself, namely, Ginger Wildheart And The Sinners. The band was formed in August 2019 when Ginger joined forces with Neil Ivison and Nick Lyndon from Stone Mountain Sinners, and was completed with the addition of drummer Shane Dixon of Tri-City Fanfare.

Is this akin to any Wildhearts music? In a word, no! This album is not chock full of intricate arrangements, pounding drums, and more riffs in one song than should be strictly legal. It does however, share the lush harmonies, fantastic delivery and melody-a-gogo that the aforementioned Wildhearts ply as their stock in trade. Sure, stylistically it’s closer to the Ginger Wildheart solo albums Ghost In The Tanglewood and Pessimist’s Companion, both of which took a while for me to accept, mainly due to my “distorted guitar” prejudice, but as with both those albums, it’s the true strength of a song that always shines out as a beacon in these ever more confusing times. In short, if you like your music to be memorable, then you could do worse than to dip your toe into the country tinged, Americana feel of this record. There are ten tracks on offer, of which two are covers (by Status Quo and Georgia Satellites), more of which later, and it was produced by Dave Draper at Mwnci Studios in Wales.

The album kicks off with the infectious, bouncy, first single Wasted Times, which comes over like a superficial love song, but maybe the subject matter isn’t a person, rather a metaphor for The Wildhearts, and the self destructive relationship therein? Alternatively, it’s just a bloody good song. That Smile follows with another slab of joyful, uplifting songwriting complete with blues soaked slide guitar solo and almost gospel backing vocals. The second single, Footprints In The Sand, leads off with a John Cougar Mellancamp vibe, is primarily sung by Neil, and is so achingly good and uplifting, it should probably be prescribed as a therapy on the NHS. Lately Always returns to the familiar theme of a troubled relationship, but is sprinkled with hope for redemption, typified by the hook in the chorus of “I consider this flame alive, it’s been out too many dark nights, and I’m burning brighter, lately always”. If by this point you aren’t in a better place than you were at the start of the record a mere 15 minutes ago, then you are either beyond reach or dead…actually I’m pretty sure the dead may be persuaded into life again, if they heard it.

Ok, so far, so great, but my first niggle comes in the form of Dirty Water, which was originally a Status Quo song from the 1977 album Rockin’ All Over The World, and initially took me back in time to when I was first discovering my tastes in music. It’s not that the song doesn’t fit the vibe, but when you consider two songs later we get another cover, in the form of Six Years Gone (a song I was unaware of in it’s Georgia Satellites form), it just feels a bit unnecessary, given the quality of the rest of the songs on show. Personally, I’d much prefer another couple of originals in a set of 10 songs. I mean, at a sweaty gig, the odd cover is great fun, but for me 20% of a new album is way too much. Of the remaining songs, the “joyfully melancholic Americana” feel is maintained, with Breakout and Not The Staying Kind. The record finishes with Code Of The Road, which adds a bit of oompah to the mix, and is a salutary tale of the reality of being a touring musician.

In short, this is a cracking self-titled album, but as with seemingly everything Ginger Wildheart touches there have been casualties along the way during the recording process, with one member not lasting the course until release. She can, however still be heard, especially the gutsy performance on the jolly alcoholic song Work In Progress. It’s a shame, but I’m sure there’s two sides to the story (neither of which I’m privy too, so I won’t speculate). So, another day, another quality record, and another fractured relationship….yeah, it’s all in a day’s work for Ginger Wildheart.