The latest live album by The Wildhearts recorded to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band's legendary PHUQ album does exactly what it says on the tin. It's a live recording of the classic album recorded last September in Japan.
Still, any album that opens with the band's best known song I Wanna Go Where The People Go sung and played as ever as if their lives depend on nailing it (and of course they do) is gonna get my vote. If you are the sort of Wildhearts fan who hasn't already pledged for a copy you won't be let down if you buy one now.
V-Day keeps the pace up and the guitars are almost beating out the time as much as the drum. Ginger's voice, amazingly, doesn't sound like the years have ravaged it too much. Thankfully they keep in the in-between song banter as without it you'd wonder if it was a real Ginger performance. Just In Lust still has cool harmony backing vocals as Ginger tells us of some of the things that turn him on and at one point the bass gets pretty funky too before the guitars kick back in.
Nita Nitro features the first clear audience sing-along part and yes, I guess everyone was singing along for most of the show while Ginger tries to decide if he wants to stick around or not. It sounds like everyone is having a blast.
Jonesing For Jones doesn't really feel like they have withdrawal symptoms even if they have slowed the pace a touch, but then perhaps they just want more Tom Jones in their life but I doubt it. They turn Up Your Arse You Fucking Cunt into a sing along obviously as it was as described by Ginger the sort of thing you record when you've done too much cocaine so that 26 seconds later they go into a crushing version of No Shit You Got Through which is fast furious and full of audience participation where you'd expect it to be.
Cold Patootie Tango sounds like they are trying to be some windswept epic metal band before remembering they need to rock harder than that and getting the riffage going. They then just sort of mangle their way into Caprice like it's a mutation of the Tango as ginger remembers who he was taking drugs with back in the day.
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Be My Drug opens like it's the band's main 'Lighter in the air' ballad before the guitars come crashing in to make sure anyone foolish enough to have raised said lighter is now totally embarrassed as the song unfolds and Ginger and the boys try to mainline their drugs of choice while playing and singing. Who says rock bands can't multi-task, eh?
Naivety Play sounds as angry as you'd expect it to as if Ginger has only just been spurned, damn he's angry and not afraid to let you know as the guitars rage and strafe the audience. In Lilly's Garden features the audience on backing vocals in the quiet bits and in places they sound almost psychedelic as if they might be on hippy drugs for a change.
The album closes as it always has with Getting It and the audience has been getting it now for the last 21 years in one form or another. I'm sure at the concert this recording derives from the band would have at the very least played a good long encore or two and if you buy a copy rather than my review copy it apparently comes with some of the encores and other songs they played on the night.
Nonetheless, if you loved PHUQ first time around you'll also love PHUQ live second time around and if you haven't pledged for a copy already you can get one from: Round Records Pledge Music Page
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