Review: Ginger Wildheart – “G.A.S.S.” January
A new year dawns, and with it comes a new instalment of GASS, much to the excitement of Ginger’s devoted following. By this stage, the value of GASS for the cost of the service is no longer in question. The output so far has been superb, and Ginger could probably get away with providing us with a few months of silence without any likely complaints, such is the consistency, but also depth and variety, of his work on this project thus far. However, Month 9 is once again another barnstorming affair, with a bucket load more content of the highest order.
On the singles front, first up is Right In The Feels, a wonderful pop number with an unmistakeable Ginger chorus which could easily have been something from the 555% recordings, and an excellent vocal harmonising between Ginger and Chloe Marina Dance (who some readers will likely have seen at the 2014 instalment of the infamously raucous Ginger Wildheart birthday gig), musing on the nature of the human condition, before breaking into a beautifully expansive final sequence.
The second GASS track might be my favourite of the three on offer this month. The Uninvited is a deliciously prog affair, something that you wouldn’t normally associate with Ginger, incorporating a much larger cast of characters for various vocal assignments, to give the song a big, almost wall of sound-esque feel. One particularly unexpected collaborator on this track is Matt Nasir on piano, who has featured in the excellent backing band for Frank Turner, The Sleeping Souls, and more recently as a member of Mongol Horde, alongside fantastic performers like Thea Ford, Jason Knight, David Ryder-Prangley, Robin Guy, and Hollis Mahady of Love Zombies. This is certainly one of the most unusual tracks that has come out of the GASS sessions, but it goes to show the versatility of Ginger’s writing, as well as the huge network of friends he can call on to get involved.
The third track might be somewhat familiar to GASS subscribers, if nothing else as the opening riff has been used from the intro and outro for last month’s podcast. Friends of Bill is classic Wildhearts fare, with a fast punky riff, and a shouty sing-along chorus which I can imagine being a huge hit at future gigs.
Outside of the three excellent singles this month, we have the usual demos; including an early demo of Lively Boy from the Mutation project, as well as Wherever You Go, There You Are, a musing on the old adage of the grass always being greener. As always we have the ever reliable Q&A section, a distinctly Japanese-themed edition of Ginger’s Horror Corner, Ginger’s diary, a cracking podcast recorded in and around the birthday gig, and Ginger’s Secret History of Rock’n’Roll, featuring The Babys.
Month 9 of GASS is another home run, with three cracking singles and whole host of extras, and some amazing artwork. This is perhaps the best month yet, and worth every penny. Savour it now, as with only a few months left, we’ll be out of GASS before you know it, and that will be a sad day indeed.
