By Monk
The artist by the nom de plume of CJ Wildheart should need absolutely no introduction to not only regular readers of this here always ever so humble website but lovers of classy rock ‘n’ roll music as a whole, as he was one of the similarly-monickered co-founders of one of perhaps the singularly most recognized and notorious glunk pop acts to have emerged from the Über Kingdom in the past two generations.
After a nigh on 40-year interaction with the band that has experienced more stops and starts than a rain-sodden TT race, the firebrand sauceror (sic) has just unleashed his eighth, and perhaps most visceral and vital, solo album on an unsuspecting Überverse…
Ever the master of the compactly taciturn one-word album title (‘Mable’, ‘Blood’ and ‘Robot’ anyone?), CJ once again delivers a short, sharp shock to the system with this equally compactly and precisely crafted ten-song 33-minute blast of punk ‘n’ roll energy, fire, fury, (devil)spit and venom, all coupled with his characteristic smile and raised middle finger.
From the declarative opening salvo of ‘Nein Nein Nein’ through the defiance of ‘SOB’ to the retro splash of lead single ‘One Of The Boys’, CJ’s intention is clear – and that is, as he screams on ‘Rotten’, to do “nothing in moderation”. And that he does, or doesn’t do, depending on your anarchic perspective.
In the initial run up to this album’s release, CJ had intimated that it would most likely be his last recording venture. However, subsequent social media posts from the ever elegantly eloquent songsmith have indicated that he is continuing to work on new material. I, for one, sincerely hope so, as we all need elegantly and eloquently crafted punk ‘n’ roll poetry in our darkened, DEViLish hearts ‘n’ souls. \m/
- ‘DEViL‘ is out now.