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TOUGHER THAN diamond and just as valuable, The Wildhearts have weathered the storm of label-wrangling, in-fighting and periods of inactivity to remain one of the most distinctive and essential British rock bands ever. In frontman Ginger they have a true maverick, capable of soaring high one moment and seemingly crashing and burning the next, all with the same amount of glorious style and inimitable enthusiasm.It would be an inaccurate cliche to suggest that the band thrive on what, for a time, seemed like them being a constant state of discontent. They have seemingly emerged at the other side of their troubles, though, bloody and unbowed. For now, at least. Meanwhile, their music remains undiluted by age and the band members look to have grown enticingly self-aware. Their most recent album was named, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, 'The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed'. Not a chance!
Name: Earth Vs The WildheartsLabel: EAST WESTYear: 1993
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Review: AN AURAL collage of being down and out with only rock 'n' roll for company, 'Earth Vs. ...' manages to be as memorable and arresting as its caustic cover art. In their youthful endeavour to sound like no-one else, this is The Wildhearts' loudest and clearest triumph. Its epic tunes and brilliant lyrics result in highlights to spare.
Name: P.H.U.QLabel: EAST WESTYear: 1995
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Review: SLICKER AND more polished than its predecessor, their second long-player doesn't sacrifice style for the sake of gaining airplay, which is what made the success of a stand-out single like 'I Wanna Go Where The People Go' all the sweeter. The aural equivalent of a rollercoaster ride seconds away from plummeting out of control.
Name: Don't be Happy..Just WorryLabel: WARNER MUSICYear: 1992
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Review: TECHNICALLY THE Wildhearts' second EP, although this mini-album did cannibalise their 'Mondo Akimbo A-Go-Go' debut. It teems with the later-fulfilled promise of their subsequent albums, while stocking a couple of live favourites that still feature in their longer sets today.
Name: Fishing for LuckiesLabel: ROUND RECORDSYear: 1996
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Review: INCLUDING ITS vinyl variations, roughly five versions of 'Fishing For Luckies' exist. It's best to look for the 1996 re-release, mainly because it's the only one still in print in this country. Classics like 'Geordie In Wonderland' and 'If Life Is Like A Love Bank...' were dropped, but some uniformly excellent new tunes crop up in their wake.
Name: Endless NamelessLabel: MUSHROOMYear: 1997
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Review: NAMED AFTER the unlistenable hidden track at the end of Nirvana's 'Nevermind', 'Endless Nameless' is what happens when you replace great songwriting with, well, heroin. Lots of heroin. Mired in those drug-induced troubles, a couple of good tracks make it out of this static-fuelled, industrial-strength mess of an album, but not enough to warrant its purchase.
Key The Wildhearts Tracks
29 X THE PAIN
EASILY THEIR most famous B-side, this live favourite was updated on the consistent 'Best Of...' compilation, but its original form is its best.
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Find It: Suckerpunch' single, 1994
ANTHEM
ONE OF the few tracks on 'Endless Nameless' that has some recognisable and recallable melody going on beneath the distortion and abrasiveness.
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Find It: 'Endless Nameless', 1997
CAFFEINE BOMB
IF ALL songs about drugs were this cool, there wouldn't be a sober person left on the planet. A breakneck, goosebump-raising punk rock gem that made for a great single.
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Find It: 'Earth Vs The Wildhearts', 1993
GEORDIE IN WONDERLAND
A STROLLING, almost-ballad that, again, is resurrected on the 'Best Of...' comp. Like '...Shitsville' would've sounded after several bottles of Newkie Brown.
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Find It: 'Fishing For Luckies', 1994
GREETINGS FROM SHITSVILLE
THEIR FIRST stone-cold classic track, this description of Geordie ex-pats scraping by in the Capital has all the bile, humour and hooks that show The Wildhearts at their best.
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Find It: 'Earth Vs The Wildhearts', 1993
I WANNA GO WHERE THE PEOPLE GO
THERE WAS more to the Wildhearts' purple patch than the cover of 'P.H.U.Q.', as this exhilarating karmic rallying call of a song proves in abundance.
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Find It: 'P.H.U.Q.', 1995
IF LIFE IS LIKE A LOVE BANK I WANT ...
SAVED FROM permanent deletion by the aforementioned 'Best Of...' compilation, this is another example of The Wildhearts making music with growling, smart humour.
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Find It: 'Fishing For Luckies', 1994
IN LILLY'S GARDEN
IS IT symbolic? Is it a metaphor? What 'In Lilly's Garden' is, definitely, a beautifully lush ballad that should've been 'P.H.U.Q.''s all-conquering third single.
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Find It: 'P.H.U.Q.', 1995
JUST IN LUST
ONE TO play when you're getting over that relationship you got into for all the wrong reasons. If this glistening, power-guitar doesn't fix those woes, nothing will.
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Find It: 'P.H.U.Q.', 1995
NOTHING EVER CHANGES BUT THE SHOES
OVER A tumbling opening riff that quickly builds to a cacophony, a brilliantly bittersweet pop song is swiftly constructed. Uncharacteristic, throat-stripping vocals somehow add to its charm, too.
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Find It: 'Don't Be Happy... Just Worry', 1992
RED LIGHT - GREEN LIGHT
THERE'S MORE stop-start to this song than its title. Another racing, anthemic track, with slices of melodic tenderness. A BLT of a song that still tastes great.
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Find It: 'Fishing For Luckies' reissue, 1996
SICK OF DRUGS
A SNAPSHOT taken at the comedown of a spectacular bender, or a sharply-crafted shot at the band's detractors. Either way, 'Sick Of Drugs' is perceptive, memorable fare.
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Find It: 'Fishing For Luckies' reissue, 1996
SKY BABIES
A 12-MINUTE epic that is basically three out-of-this-world songs about aliens run together. And they play it live, too, sometimes. Fucking brilliant.
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Find It: 'Fishing For Luckies' reissue, 1996
SPLATTERMANIA
ANSWERS ON a postcard as to what 'Splattermania' is exactly. From the sound of this, though, locking yourself indoors and watching too many horror movies isn't great for your health.
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Find It: 'Don't Be Happy... Just Worry', 1992
STORMY IN THE NORTH, KARMA IN THE S...
THE LEAD-OFF track from their 'Coupled With' collection of B-sides recorded since their 2003 comeback; that North/South divide is still a rich songwriting pipeline for Ginger and co.
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Find It: 'Coupled With', 2004
SUCKERPUNCH
REPLACING NARCOTICS with another Wildhearts subject matter staple, lovesickness, made for this frenetic companion piece to 'Caffeine Bomb'.
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Find It: 'Earth Vs The Wildhearts', 1993
TURNING AMERICAN
THIS TRACK takes over a minute to fade in and completely introduce itself. When it finally arrives, the chunky metallic guitars lead the charge against bland Americanisation.
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Find It: 'Don't Be Happy... Just Worry', 1992
TV TAN
THIS ACCOUNT of lying vegetative in front of the television for no discernable reason, pissed, is a chilling foretelling of how 'Deal Or No Deal' found an audience. Possibly.
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Find It: 'Earth Vs The Wildhearts', 1993
URGE
A TALE of a night on the town that makes the Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up' video look like David Cameron doing the washing up on his webcam, basically.
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Find It: 'Endless Nameless', 1997
VANILLA RADIO
A TRIUMPHANT return to their hookier, rockier roots and continuing their repeated visits to the UK Top 40 Singles Charts over the course of a decade. It careers out of the speakers, demanding to be heard, with great results.
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Find It: 'The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed', 2003