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Wildhearts "Coupled With"

The Wildhearts: Coupled With

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by Nick Lancaster.
Last year's The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed was, it's fair to say, loved and loathed in roughly equal measures. For those who felt short-changed, Coupled With, a collection of recent B-sides along with lost single 'Stormy In The North, Karma In The South', might serve as something of an antidote. It's the stuff that didn't fit in with the sugary, loved-up theme of the album; the stuff with the balls. And there's a lot of it.

So it's business as usual then: big chunky riffs out for the lads, harmonies to die for and choruses which either fill your head, crush your head, or just bury themselves in there somewhere, never to leave. 'Stormy...', 'Move On' and 'Better Than Cable' are vintage Wildhearts rockers, 'Looking For The One' is pure anthemic joy, and 'L.T.D.' might just be the most infectious tune the band have recorded. It's also the most convincing argument yet for breaking Ginger's songwriting monopoly, written as it was by occasional stand-in bassist and full-time Cardiacs nutjob Jon Poole. Also in the should-have-been-a-single category is 'Cheers', a suitably Wildhearts-ised cover of the theme tune from the appropriate sitcom which sounds almost pop-punky enough to be Good Charlotte, albeit without the arse-faced goon.

It's not all perfect, of course - as 'Move On' so poetically puts it, "Nobody ever never got it wrong." '6:30 Onwards' and 'Hit It On The Head' are decidedly weak, and 'Return To Zero' would benefit from at least a hint of melody. It seems churlish, though, to criticise B-sides for being of B-side quality, particularly when there's over an album's worth of classic Wildhearts action.

  • The Wildhearts 9 / 10

The Wildhearts - Coupled With

I don't need this record because I got all the singles... but really. If you don't have the material on this album you really really need it.

Being something of a Wildhearts zealot, I can't even agree on your choice of weak tracks! "6.30 Onwards" is top, "Hit It On The Head" shamelessly copies "Message In A Bottle" (you know, Sting when he made good records) and "Return To Zero" shamelessly copies "Night Boat To Cairo". Talent borrows, genius steals.

Re: The Wildhearts - Coupled With

Agreed, I'm obviously not going to buy it because I have the singles anyway, so while I'm thinking it just looks like a bit of a raw deal I'm also glad there aren't any new tracks on it, so I'm not missing anything.

Still, this album seems a bit of a strange idea, I can't help thinking a live album (or better still, DVD) would be much more interesting...

The Wildhearts - Coupled With

A DVD has been in the pipeline for ages, for which they've shot a lot of footage, but the problem lies in getting permission for the old videos from EastWest.

As for a live record, there's 'Tokyo Suits Me' (but that's only available as an expensive import), 'Anarchic Airwaves' (not approved by the band but not bad) and as for more recent gigs, plenty of bootlegs available via www.sonicshake.net and another site whose address escapes me (there's probably a link on the sonicshake site).

The Wildhearts - Coupled With

Wow. I'm so glad they're finally getting recognition. I'll be buying the album as there's a few tracks I'm missing.

And a live album couldn't possibly compete with seeing them live - they're utterly fantastic live.

The Wildhearts - Coupled With

6:30 onwards is one of the few post-reformation WH songs that gave me that classic Wildhearts experience of initially hating it, then a few listens in realising that it's amazing. I think the other stuff's great, but I've found it a lot more immediate than their earlier material.

Great review though, and this record must be perfect for those that hated the simplicity of the last album. Annoyingly, the only reason for me to buy it would be to get Return to Zero on CD, but I can't justify paying a tenner for one song that I already have on vinyl.

The Wildhearts - Coupled With

F**kin awesome album, as ever.

6.30 onwards takes a bit to get going, but some of the lyrics really kick in on the second verse.

I bought it, even though I own all the tracks already and had downloaded a pre-release. If you don't have a record player (like me) and bought S.I.Y. on vinyl regardless, get this CD. It's worth it for Return to Zero and Better Than Cable.

The Wildhearts Reschedule UK Tour?

The Wildhearts have cancelled their UK tour due to illness, it would seem. A notice posted on Oxford Brooke's Uni website said
"THIS SHOW HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED
DUE TO ILLNESS
THE NEW DATE IS THURS 13TH MAY
THE WILDHEARTS
+ THERAPY? + The Glitterati
Please keep hold of your tickets - they will be valid
The Line Up will be the same"

And the Carling Liverpool told a similar tale...
The Wildhearts plus Therapy

"WEDNESDAY 28TH APRIL 2004
(This event has been moved from 13th April)
TICKETS £12.50 "




Re: The Wildhearts Reschedule UK Tour?

The UK tour dates were rescheduled a while ago because the band was touring America with The Darkness. Oxford, the only date to remain the same, has annoyingly now just been cancelled because of illness.

The dates are now as follows:

23/04/04: Manchester - Academy
24/04/04: Glasgow - Garage
25/04/04: Edinburgh - Liquid Rooms
26/04/04: Leeds - Uni
27/04/04: Nottingham - Rock City
28/04/04: Liverpool - Academy
30/04/04: Dublin - The Village
03/05/04: Bristol - Academy
04/05/04: Cardiff - Uni Solus
05/05/04: Wolverhampton - Wulfrun Hall
06/05/04: Newcastle - Uni
07/05/04: Sheffield - Leadmill
08/05/04: Southampton - Uni
10/05/04: London - Hammersmith Palais
11/05/04: Northampton - Roadmenders
12/05/04: Norwich - Waterfront
13/05/04: Oxford - Brookes Uni


Re: The Wildhearts Reschedule UK Tour?

Yeah, I noticed my mistake...
Sorry mister Ben.
Bye.

Re: The Wildhearts Reschedule UK Tour?

No worries, just wanted to reassure you / anyone else that the tour hasn't been cancelled.




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