Joan and the boys bring back the punk ‘n’ roll on their 10th studio release.
As I write this, an all-girl rock band sit atop the UK album chart. Unfortunately, they are unbelievable shit. In an ideal world, everyone who bought the Haim album would take it back, ask for a refund and buy this instead. For all the success that Haim, Deep Vally, et al achieve before they rightly disappear, not a second of it would have been possible without Joan Jett and the pioneering Runaways.
Anyway rant over, for now at least….
Seven years after her last studio album, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts are back and not before time. Much like the Ramones and AC/DC before her, the one thing you don’t expect from a Joan Jett release is any surprises. Every song on here could easily have been found on any of her previous 9 releases, and I love her all the more for it. If it ain’t broke and all that.
Opening track “Any Weather” features a Dave Grohl co-writing credit yet still sounds like classic Joan. The album truly comes into it’s own with “T.M.I”, Jett’s ode to the celebrity obsession with social media, and comes over like a classic Sweet glam rock stomper. I mean, who the fuck wouldn’t like that?
“Make It Back”, about the human spirit post – Hurricane Sandy, and “Fragile” are the type of riff-driven rockers we’ve all come to expect over the years, and I defy anyone to hear the Ramones influence in “Bad As We Can Be” and not want to pogo around the room like a drunk teenager.
Standing head and shoulders above every other song on the album is “Hard To Grow Up”. Touching on personal loss, the rebellious teenager snarl is replaced by a somewhat more heartfelt vocal delivery, whilst remaining 100% Jett.
No Joan Jett & the Blackhearts album would be complete without that classic drum sound, handclaps, gang vocals and cooler than cool guitar leads. And guess what….the album is drenched in it all, and more.
The album closes with the near ballad “Everybody Needs A Hero”, a string laden 2 and a half minutes that you somehow wish was twice as long. Emotional and a great way to end the record.
Get it. Get it now.
It might not change your life, but it’ll put a massive smile on your face from start to finish. And that’s what it’s all about, surely…………….well, that and some UK dates, eh?
Unvarnished by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts is available now on iTunes.
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