{"id":26217,"date":"2025-03-13T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=26217"},"modified":"2025-03-11T17:48:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T17:48:51","slug":"a-look-back-at-endless-nameless-by-the-wildhearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=26217","title":{"rendered":"A Look Back at \u2018Endless Nameless\u2019 by The Wildhearts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I can already hear people on both sides taking up arms to talk about how this is an awful record drenched in noise while others shout what a brilliant album this is. The year was 1997. While the internet was alive, it wasn\u2019t anything like it is today. A person couldn\u2019t run to the computer to immediately head a song drop. The Wildhearts had seemed to be in danger of imploding according to the magazines at the time. They had to pull out of a tour in the U.S. with AC\/DC. There was talk they had recorded demos for a new album but were unhappy with the direction they were going. These would later be released in 1998 against the band\u2019s wishes. In 1997 though, the band released the infamous \u2018Endless Nameless\u2019 produced by the late Ralph Jezzard (R.I.P.) who just recently left this world way too soon. The band had signed with a new label (Mushroom Records) which gave me optimism as a fan that despite the stories the band\u2019s trajectory was still moving higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cannot recall what I received first. Kerrang usually ran at least a week late in the States, and Tower Records usually could get CD singles within about a week of their release. I also had a record store back in Albuquerque where I had previously lived (I miss you Merlin\u2019s Record Workshop) that would order me everything Wildhearts related and mail the items to me. Good old mail order when I had to check the mail each day to see if I could finally hear music from across the pond\u2026 The first thing most of us heard was \u2018Anthem.\u2019 There was the initial thought of \u2018Why is the music damaged like this?\u2019 I think that was quickly followed by realizing Ginger wasn\u2019t singing; Danny was. \u2018Anthem\u2019 is extremely catchy even through all of the racket that collides with the music. I mean it kind of had to be when you borrow a line from a chorus by the Clash to use as your hook. What I realized quickly was that there was still melody in there amongst the explosions and speaker rattling white noise and feedback. The other change that was immediately noticed was the b-sides were largely cover songs and not all originals. I can safely say that \u2018He\u2019s a Whore\u2019 was the last one I heard because it took longer to get the 45. The production on the b-sides was the same as \u2018Anthem\u2019 with the things I loved about the band going through a noise blender. I was partial to the CD single version that contained \u2018White Lies\u2019 and \u2018The Song Formerly Known as?\u2019 \u2018White Lies\u2019 stormed out of the speakers or maybe I should say it Scorched out of the speakers. The memory is fuzzy now, but I think it was the cover of this song that helped make sense of this new sonic assault. The lyrics in the other song asked all kinds of interesting questions, and I still don\u2019t know why we men have nipples\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe the \u2018Urge\u2019 single then snuck out right before \u2018Endless Nameless.\u2019 A song that continues to get louder and more destructive as it goes through its running time. This time we also received four new Wildhearts songs and only one cover song. I love all four of these originals and will talk in more detail about two of them later. What was clear upon hearing the second single was that the album was going to have a sound consistent with the noisy and abrasive sound of the singles.\u00a0 I was feeling optimistic about the album overall even though I was missing the approach that had created the likes of \u2018Sky Babies\u2019 and \u201929 x the Pain.\u2019 The blend of crunch and melody had always been present in the band as I remember at one point the band was described as Metallica crossed with the Beatles which I don\u2019t think would have been my description in those early days. Ginger has a gift for writing songs that can touch across a lot of genres, but the even greater gift is that they sound cohesive and recognizable as the Wildhearts or other dedicated projects. They don\u2019t sound like a hodgepodge of ideas that are forced together. It never seemed odd that the band could include the old-time rock n\u2019 roll feel of \u2018Loveshit\u2019 on the same album as the aggressive flurry of \u2018Suckerpunch\u2019 or the epic \u2018Sky Babies\u2019 from \u2018Fishing for Luckies\u2019 where Ginger incorporates what feels like several songs into a seamless epic.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Released at the tail end of October 1997, I would not hear the album until early November when the CD appeared in my mailbox. Looking at the cover, the band had finally released an album with a picture of the band on the front cover. I don\u2019t think I immediately noticed that they all seemed to be in their own little world and had no intention of being together as friends or bandmates. Looking back later, it became obvious that the cracks (Crack? Other drugs?) had broken the band and sent them towards an implosion. When I played the album the first time, I had initially wondered why \u2018Junkenstein\u2019 was mastered so much lower than other albums and had turned it up to a more desirable volume\u2026 For those who know, the song becomes a little bit louder as it goes. The song isn\u2019t one with an immediate chorus that captures your attention like \u2018Greetings from Shitsville\u2019 or \u2018I Wanna Go Where the People Go\u2019 did. It felt more like my buddy\u2019s car where you had to tap the screwdriver on the starter to get the thing to turnover. I cannot imagine another song starting the album though. This song which initially sounded like a twisted mess of noise rising to the surface gives way to a song that does feature a large hook. \u2018Nurse Maximum\u2019 roars to life in what feels like the middle of the first verse. The melody and the noise fight each other for control throughout the song in a glorious way that rewards the listener. There is nothing subtle here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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