Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Pretenders 17: Hate For Sale

Not that Chrissie Hynde worked at a frantic pace, but Hate For Sale is the first Pretenders album in a while that earns the use of the band name. For one, Martin Chambers is back on drums, and the other two guys had already appeared on a previous album. Plus, the producer is Stephen Street, who helmed the desk for the band’s ‘90s albums. Also, it rocks. Mostly.

Chrissie wrote all the songs with guitarist James Walbourne, and they’re all pretty solid. The title track is a furious opener, complete with false start, while “The Buzz” sports an intro very much like “Kid”. “Lightning Man” evokes the reggae of “Private Life”, with a melodica right out of Twin/Tone. We don’t know what “Turf Accountant Daddy” is supposed to be about, but at least she finds “Cincinnati” to be a better rhyme than “Reno, Nevada”. (We also like the nod to Blondie in the brief synth solo.) “You Can’t Hurt A Fool” gives her a chance to be soulful.

“I Don’t Know When To Stop” takes us back to the loud bash at the beginning, then “Maybe Love Is In NYC” subverts the familiar “All Along The Watchtower” chords by arpeggiating the electric and strumming a prominent acoustic, and finding a catchy melody for the chorus. The trashy “Junkie Walk” is followed by Bo Diddley filtered through “Didn’t Want To Be This Lonely”. She waits until the very end to flip the script, with the overly emotional “Crying In Public”, accompanied by piano and her go-to Duke String Quartet.

At just over thirty minutes, Hate For Sale is short and to the point. It’s also the first Pretenders album in a long time worthy of playing on a loop. Not bad for a few veterans pushing 70.

Pretenders Hate For Sale (2020)—

1 comment:

  1. The title of the album could have been misinterpreted. Fortunately, it doesn’t describe the contents. I assumed that she was going to make a political comment with the title track, although the lyrics don’t quite bear that out. I guess that I’m in that frame of mind, being that tomorrow will mark a dark day...

    In any case, while Adam Seymour was building on the legacy of James Honeyman-Scott, James Walbourne returned, for the most part, to the rough and ready sound of “Break Up the Concrete”. “The Buzz” and “Maybe Love Is In NYC” do bring back some of the old jangle. I do miss the old sound, but the rockers are really a lot of fun. I’m also a sucker for the Bo Diddely beat of “Didn’t Want to Be This Lonely”. “Tuff Accountant Daddy” strikes me a sort of sequel to “Time the Avenger”. “Lightning Man” sounds to me more like the reggae attempts of The Clash than that of this band. (In an odd move, the only Pretender to appear in the video is Martin Chambers). As for the ballads, "You Can't Hurt a Fool" passes me by, but “Crying in Public” is a successful torch song, although I take issue with the line “I don't know a man who's felt the same shame”.

    My only issue with the album is that it’s too short. It’s the length of an EP. After “Alone”, it’s a big relief. It’s diverse, in no small part because Walbourne is very talented. And THAT voice is still there after all these years. Long may they go on!


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