ALBUM REVIEW: GAS*S MARK II – Ginger Wildheart

November 17, 2018 Craig Huntley

Nowadays with the way the music industry makes its dollars (or pounds in this instance), musicians have to diversify as much as possible. You can’t simple rely on one ‘revenue stream’ which in the last decade has changed from album sales to the number of streams a particular song might get on streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube. This has resulted in less artists being able to produce their music as a full time endeavour and having to change the way they work. Ginger Wildheart, the enigmatic frontman of 90’s grungey pop oiks THE WILDHEARTS, has so many plates spinning at anyone time, he may just the worst case of vertigo. In 2014 to remain close to his most diehard fanbase Ginger produced albums of material that showcased and flexed his collaboration skills and albums that could only be purchased through Ginger‘s website. G*A*S*S MARK II is essentially a best of this output.

Abundantly clear across this 13 track record is how diverse Ginger‘s back catalogue and how far his musical tastes lie. In other areas Ginger has produced what can only be described as noise metal in the trio MUTATION, sugary power pop in HEY!HELLO! and even being a back up guitarist for grunge queen Courtney Love. This album showcases all of these influences. Opening track Friends of Bill showcases his love for the much missed MOTORHEAD. The track showcases the throbbing bass and growled vocals like Lemmy Kilmister in his prime, but also includes the harmony vocals that THE WILDHEARTS could do in their sleep.

With Ginger‘s recent solo material taking a turn towards country and Americana, his love for the genre is showcased with the love of where he grew up in Caer Urfa, an ode to the streets, the smells and the people who populated the area. Its a rare skill for a singer/songwriter to be able to flip between noise in MUTATION and a stripped back song like this. The lyrics here are at the forefront with the music taking a backseat.

<a href="http://roundrecords.bandcamp.com/album/g-a-s-s-mk-ii-2">G*A*S*S* MK II by Ginger Wildheart</a>

Elsewhere King Rat mixes grunge and Sgt. Pepper era THE BEATLES with a touch of psychedelia warping the song into a melting pot of genres, Petite Mort has a gospel tinge with Ginger taking a back seat letting the feminine voice shine through or the epic nine minute long Don’t Lose Your Tail Girl which showcases just about every genre touched upon on the album, in one song. Album closer I’ll Have Another which is a song showcases the trials and tribulations of what happens when you utter the immortal words with your mates down the pub after only ‘going for one’ and ending up half dead in a field.

The album showcases as a whole what makes Ginger Wildheart a truly remarkable artist, one we are lucky to say we lived at the same time as. Having been open and honest about his mental health problems over social media, this type of album showcases his beating heart and open wound policy of verbalising his feelings through song, almost like we are privy to a therapy session we are all welcome at. As more and more artists turn towards business models where the middle man is removed and the artist interacts directly with the fan, this can only be a good thing, nay a great thing, just like this album.

Rating: 8/10

G*A*S*S MARK II is out now via Round Records.

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