I
remember when the Clash released Sandinista!
That
huge, and flawed, treble album of experimental muscle flexing that
pushed the boundaries of punk.
While it
drew plenty of critical praise for attempting to deliver a potpourri
of genres, while retaining the character of the Clash, it also left
many fans considering it to be too large a portion to devour all at
once without it repeating on them like aural indigestion.
In
hindsight it's an album that lends itself to being dipped into, and
not one that should be approached in one sitting.
The
reason I mention the Clash album is because as soon as I pledged to
buy the self released Ginger Wildheart treble album the spirit of
Sandinista visited me like a Dickensian ghost to point out everything
that could go wrong with the idea.
Like a
black cloud it followed me around coaching caution even as the video
updates from the Ginger Wildheart camp flowed in with reassuring
regularity.
No matter
how often we pledger's were invited behind the scenes to see how the
album was progressing I couldn't shake the thought that maybe, just
maybe, like the trailer for a Hollywood blockbuster we were getting
to see all the best bits.
Thankfully
the progress of the album ran smoothly and we investors who showed
faith didn't have to fret about breakdowns in communication between
the musicians, breaks to recharge batteries, or weeks of zero
information being released that would lend itself to chipping away at
the trust placed in the project.
Instead
from the outside looking in it was plain sailing all the way and the
album was delivered as promised leaving us with just one thing to
consider.
And
that's is it any good?
It could
be easy to be distracted by the media circus that has sprung up
around it.
The press
are loving the David and Goliath aspects of the release.
With one
mighty swing Ginger has launched a copy of 555% from his catapult and
lodged it in the eye of the mighty behemoth that is the record
industry.
Yet if we
ignore all that and focus on the album the question of 'is it any
good' still hovers there demanding to be answered, and the answer is
that it isn't just good, but it's damn good.
It's not
just a triumphant middle fingered salute at the major labels, but
also a stand alone work that's verging on genius.
Over the
course of the three discs the music touches on the eclectic tastes of
Ginger while maintaining pop driven hooks that enable it to be a
hugely accessible listening experience.
This is
his shiny pop album, and within the framework of that he visits the
sounds of rockers like Cheap Trick, ELO, Sparks and Queen, the global
big hitters like the Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel and embraces
rap, funk, post punk electronica, and even some hints of world music,
while throughout maintaining the spirit of his band The Wildhearts.
It
delivers on every promise he made about this release, and every
unsaid promise that his previous material has hinted at.
If anyone
doubted that Ginger could release a single solid pop album, then this
treble disc affair is his coup de grace to the non believers.
By
gently, and comfortably, pushing at the boundaries - instead of
taking a blitzkrieg approach - he's held it all together and
by-passed the problems that Sandinista had, and instead of going hell
for leather to mess with your head it challenges expectations without
leaving a bruise to the psych.
It's as
clever as it is entertaining and I suspect that right now Ginger is
sitting somewhere and wondering if this is all a dream that he will
wake up from.
If so,
then someone lean over and nip him, look him in the eye and say 'you
did it.........you fuckin did it'.
The
future is bright, the future is Ginger (sic)
How it all began.
No comments:
Post a Comment