Well Hung Heart

I thoroughly enjoyed Well Hung Heart supporting the wonderful The Hoax recently and I was looking forward to getting my hands on the new album from Greta Valenti & Robin Davey. Glad I did because it’s a stormer.

Davey is a stunning bass player but here he shows that his guitar playing is more than just basic as well. As for Ms Valenti, her vocals are awesome and it is impossible to hear this without the mental image of her live performances – there is very little that she does on record that she doesn’t bring to her live performances. You need a powerful drummer to carry this off and Phil Wilson has all the right chops – at once driving and massive and the next restrained and tight.

Listening to the opening to ‘Black Lightning’ you have an assault from a super-heavy guitar riff leading into her breathy squeals and then into full on explosion of feminine rage. Closer to punk than Blues but full of power and some great playing.
‘Breathe’ continues the deranged guitar shapes and Valenti shows she has more than just a scream to her skillset.
‘Hellaby’ is huge and driving with vocals that sound like Poly Styrene on speed.
My favourite number is also the most restrained – ‘Made For Leaving’ has an atmosphere that is cloying and oppressive and when the song explodes at around 3 minutes in you almost feel a sense of relief so strong the mood it creates.
‘Corporate Bitch’ went down great live and the closer ‘Rehab Is For Rich Kids’ harks back to CBGBs and that snotty New York punk sound.

There isn’t a number on the album that sounds like filler or as though they are struggling for ideas – 11 tracks all of which show different sides of the band but all shot through with the trademark of powerful guitar riffs and spaced and expressive vocals. Great album and they are even better live.