ALBUM REVIEW: The Wildhearts – The Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts (Snakefarm)
Ginger Wildheart really is in a rich vein of songwriting form right now, with a third Wildhearts album in six years – a purple patch that began with 2019’s Renaissance Men and continued with 2021’s 21st Century Love Songs.
The good news is that this 11th studio offering is just as essential as those which came before, as it finds Ginger in fine form, even if it does follow the inevitable period of strife.
The last album was recorded by a reformed line-up from the band most successful period in the mid-90s, but when that line-up split acrimoniously in 2022 many wondered if that might be the end for The Wildhearts.
But after taking a short hiatus Ginger re-emerged with an entirely new line-up, comprising bassist Jon Poole, who last played with the band in 2018, plus guitarist Ben Marsden and drummer Pontus Snibb.
Satanic Rites… is bookended by the longest two songs on the album, the six-minute break-up-predicting Eventually, and near-eight-minute lead single Failure Is The Mother Of Success, about getting back on your feet after things have gone wrong.
Those two songs alone have more ideas in them than most artists think up in an entire album, and the eight tracks in between find Ginger in fine fettle too.
It takes a brave band and record label to make such an epic song the first thing fans hear from a new album, but The Wildhearts have such a loyal fanbase that it wasn’t even a risk.
If those bookends sound a bit deep, it’s because they are. Ginger admits the songs on Satanic Rites… were written during a period of transition, from extremely negative to positive.
He’s been up front about his personal mental health demons in recent years, and it’s clear he finds comfort in doing what The Wildhearts do best; huge riffs, catchy choruses and providing an outlet for his anger and frustration.
Scared Of Glass rocks hard, and has a middle eight that reminds me of Stiff Little Fingers’ Tin Soldiers played by Thin Lizzy, which is obviously a good thing.
Troubadour Moon is more reflective, and sounds self-examinatory, while Fire In The Cheap Seats appears to be about learning to cope with mental health struggles as Ginger admits “there’s a fire inside my brain”.
Kunce is the angriest song here, and finds Ginger in full flow about everyone who annoys him, from criminal policemen to people who leave jobs half done, and red top readers to gammon apologists. It’s a splendid rant.
A heavy riffing intro heralds Maintain Radio Silence, and our hero lets rip at someone he’s fallen out with, sneering: “They like to step on your reputation/Instead of working on theirs”.
Blue Moon Over Brinkburn is a poppy number which harks back to Ginger’s schooldays in his hometown South Shields, and includes my favourite Geordie phrase, “hadaway and shite”, which is reason enough alone to like it. It’s also a banger of a tune about why he left with a point to prove, and how he learned more about life from those he dealt with as a musician than he ever did at school.
There’s a strong message of hope and self-belief in Hurt People Hurt People, while I’ll Be Your Monster sees Ginger offering to accept the blame for everyone else’s mistakes as well as his own.
This album is the sound of bridges being well and truly burned, and a man who’s looking forward with hope instead of back with regret. It’s magnificent. Long live The Wildhearts. 9/10.
