Two years since their last new album, Renaissance Men (there has been the 30th anniversary live album in between), The Wildhearts are back with Remember These Days, a single to give a little preview of their upcoming new album 21st Century Love Songs (due in September).
With the band once again consisting of the so-called ‘classic’ line up of Ginger (guitar and vocals), CJ (guitar and vocals), Danny (bass and vocals) and Ritch (drums) it’s clear they are in a nostalgic mood, at least lyrically.
Looking back at not just their early days as a band, but also their misspent musical youth in both direct and abstract terms with the lines ‘we were high on amphetamines, still learning how to play’ capturing the feeling perfectly while a few moments already stand out as future singalong favourites once full crowds are allowed back into shows.
Musically and sound wise this is modern Wildhearts through and through, feeling like a continuation of what we heard on Renaissance Men and Diagnosis, with a hefty dose of grit combined with some choice harmonies and angular noise mixing with a great bounce.
A few of the band’s trademark tonal and riff switches move things along, highlighted by a monstrous bass riff half way through that again shows Danny sounding as good as he ever has, before the track concludes with another prime sing- and bounce-along section.
This all makes Remember These Days another more than solid entry in The Wildhearts’ catalogue of crowd pleasers but with a nice edge of something a bit more melancholy just under the surface too.
Tommy Girard 
This bodes very well for the album I feel