The Wildhearts – 30 Year Itch
Release Date: 4th December 2020
Label: Round Records
Pre-Order
Genre: Rock
FFO: Ginger Wildheart, CJ Wildheart, The Yo Yo’s, Grand Theft Audio.
Review By: Paul Cairney
Let me start this with a disclaimer. The Wildhearts are my favourite band of all time. A few weeks ago, Bossman Dave fired through a message to me saying that we had 30 Year Itch in for review, offering it to me to review because, and I quote, ‘I understand you’re in love with Ginger’.
Now, unrequited man-love aside, and having seen the boys on this tour, I was hoping to get a chance to review this 17 track live album, because it is an absolute monster. Recorded during their 2019 Renaissance Men album and Diagnosis EP tours, it is, perhaps, the first Wildhearts live album to physically capture the sheer energy and power the band deliver when the play live. Kudos must go to Dave Draper who has mastered the album and delivered on the request for ‘loud guitars and loud crowd’.
As the album title suggests, the tracks selected cover the 30 year history of the band. The most enjoyably surprising aspect for me is that some of the live staples, (29 Times the Pain springs immediately to mind), has been not been included whereas, other unexpected tracks including a few from the somewhat divisive Endless Nameless album. Anthem takes me back to when I saw Danny belt this out at Portsmouth Pyramids and, for the only time, heard this song played live. But the real joy was in hearing Urge, devoid of the production on the original album. It was a magical experience.
One of the most captivating aspects of 30 Year Itch is how the newer songs, such as Dislocated, sit with effortless ease alongside the ‘classics’ like Everlone. The track listing has something for every Wildhearts fan and provides an excellent introduction to those who have, for some reason or other, never really listened to the band. In fact, there is a strong argument that the Renaissance Men tracks outshine their older brethren.
The Wildhearts have never really been subjected to the glory and respect that they truly deserve. This may be to the various implosions/explosions and every other possible ‘plosion’ you can think of. However, the current incarnation of the band is the ‘classic line-up’, and in Rich, Danny, CJ and Ginger, they have a managed to survive and become an absolute behemoth of a live band.
30 Year Itch captures this perfectly and is a truly essential purchase. Fortunately, I pre-ordered the album some time previously, so I have been playing this constantly for some time now, and the wee bonus 4 track CD we received with songs not on the album…. But that is a love story for another time.
(5 / 5)
