Hey! Hello! Too! – freshly re-recorded, it features an array of guest vocals, including Emily Lee, Givvi Flynn, Cat Southall, Laila K, Eloise Kerry, Vicky Jackson and Christina Maynard, as well as performances from band Ai, Toshi, The Rev and of course Ginger.
The release of the highly anticipated new album from Hey! Hello! has been a touch rough shall we say. From the departure of original vocalist Victoria, then Love Zombies singer Hollis coming on board. Then when Hey! Hello! Too! was due to be released plus the tour, Hollis left the band which I was not happy about as I had plans to see them on the Edinburgh date but, hey, that’s Rock n’ Roll for you.
The album was pulled and it was announced that Hollis’ vocal tracks would be removed and a new singer would be found to replace her, a situation that’s still ongoing I believe.
So onto Hey! Hello! Too!.
Ai (drummer) sings lead on a few tracks, I think, and there are guest vocalists elsewhere as stated at the beginning of this review. Cat Southall sings on at least a few here as she has been singing with the band for a recent run of gigs.
First up “All Around The World” is instant smile material with it’s hookline title. With Ai’s pounding intro and its guitar-driven, hook ridden, rhythm this is bound to be a killer track live. I’m sure the crowds will be going mad for it.
Again Ai kicks us into “This Ain’t Love”, where we enter the female pop/rock sound big time, another hook ridden cracker. Sailor’s 1975 hit “Glass Of Champagne” next and, boy, has it been brought up to date. I was 13 when the original came out. The male/female vocals work so well on this track. There are not many bands, Wildhearts included, that could pull off this track and make it so likeable for want of a better word.
So “Kids” are gonna screw you up. You would think the band hate kids listening to it with its crunching guitars, pounding drums and anti-kid lyrics but I doubt it. One of the more rocky tracks on the album. “Forever Young” is another track that dips its toe into the 70’s with its Sweet era sounds. A bit of a grower on me I think. “Loud and Fucking Clear” kicks in with some real heavy guitars and could be as close as you will get to the Wildhearts on this album – and yes, it’s loud and fucking clear.
“Can’t Stand You…(Hurting Me)” is another pop/rock classic in the making with solid vocals and harmonies. “Let’s Get Emotional” is a stunner with it’s hints at Motorhead throughout the song, a real thumper of a track. Definitely once of my favourites on this album.
“A History of Lovers” has solo Ginger/Wildhearts all over it with its melodies and hook ridden guitars. This could have appeared anywhere and still fitted in. “Body Parts” is a surprising version, shall we say, with its “Oh I love your body parts” chorus surrounded by the Japanese singing on the rest of the track – it really works so well.
“Perfect” with its hammering guitars is a killer hard driven end to an album which could well be classed as perfect.
With all the problems that have led to this album coming out, I feel they have done an amazing job with not a bad track in sight. I can see this album being on repeat on my playlist for some time to come.
Get it when it comes out, you will not be disappointed. Roll on the live dates!
Hey! Hello! Too is released on 23 September. You can pre-order it on [amazon text=vinyl through Amazon&asin=B01LC0J65Q] and help this site.
