![]() ![]() ![]() Hynde curated this pair of celebratory box sets- three discs each- marking the anniversary of the quartet’s first two albums with remastered original versions, B-sides and demos, and live cuts from performances in the U.K. The Pretenders’ brand of elixir embraced and simultaneously ignored the spirit of feminism- as on the Pretenders II follow-up’s opening combo- “The Adultress” and “Bad Boys Get Spanked”- through these devilishly clever messages from Hynde suggesting: I’m just as wise, just as raw as you are. And, as importantly, spit out such unapologetic and honest lyrics, profane even, that ranked her immediately among the power women of rock without ever doing so with any self-conscious intent. Like The Clash, Hynde could scuff up with the best of them, and still write the catchiest of hooks. Like The Police, the Pretenders found a place for reggae rhythms. These are equally essential components for a sound that hybridizes genres and attitudes with uniquely personal ambition. Hynde drives the quartet with a singular purpose, but not a singular voice Honeyman-Scott’s throwback dirty rock Martin Chambers hammering away on drums Pete Farndon’s lockdown bass. Since the 12-song set rose with the dawn of a new decade in January of 1980, every successive generation of musicians has had its collective of admirers (see Eddie Vedder and Trey Anastasio, to name two) praising the record finding inspiration in the enduring songwriting of Chrissie Hynde, the street tough twin-guitar attack of Hynde and James Honeyman-Scott, and the cross-currents of Midwest muscle and British post-punk disconnect that wraps up the Kinks and Iggy Pop into a radical dervish of comment and seduction. Few debut albums throw such a jarring first punch, then go the distance as a perennially influential and revitalizing body of work sounding as important 40 years later as it did the day it was released. ![]()
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