CJ Wildheart – 'Slots' Album Review

Tracklist:

Another Big Mistake
Beg
The Baddest Girl In The World
Coma
The Kids
In The City
Bent
You Got The Best Part Of Me
Slots
I Don’t Know What It Is

13 months after CJ Wildheart’s last album 'Split' was released, he’s back again with another new album 'Slots'.

Opening with the bombastic “Another Big Mistake” it’s pretty clear what CJ’s MO for 'Slots' is gonna be… loud, brash and punk as fuck. It’s catchy with some great gang vocals for some added effect courtesy of the Ruptured Pipes Community Choir (who the hell are they you ask? – In short, it’s a bunch of CJ’s friends and others who’ve sung gang vocals to fill out the vocals), this fast-paced track is a prefect opener and with some nice little lead fills (not too much noodling on guitar as that wouldn’t be very punk). I’m sure CJ has thought about playing tracks of this album live because 'Beg' is the perfect follow up to 'Another Big Mistake' and they have to be set up for 1-2 live.

'Beg' is downright sleazy, dirty and nasty, to be honest I wouldn’t have been surprised if one J Rotten had have spouted this out as its that good.

The first song released from 'Slots', 'The Baddest Girl In The World' clearly shows CJ knows how to strike the perfect balance between catchy ear worm and old school classic. Some of the guitar licks here are very 50’s rock and roll inspired, just turned up to 11 with loads of distortion and just goes to show that being inspired by the past ain’t a bad thing.

At the point where you are probably expecting something a touch lighter or slower, CJ punches your square in the face with what is no doubt the heaviest track on 'Slots', 'Coma'. Fans often fall into different camps with his music, some prefer the pop punk catchy ear worms and others prefer it when CJ straddles the aggressive punk (almost metal) world. 'Coma' is full of venom and it’s clear CJ is pissed off here, and for me this is when he’s at this best.

'The Kids' offers the light relief that you need after 'Coma' and actually makes 'Coma' more affective (on your second listen of the album). Just because I said its light relief doesn’t mean it’s a light track as its delivered at a decent pace and features more of those classic guitar riffs (that you swear you’ve heard somewhere before – the sign of a good lick).

If you’re thinking of buying the vinyl album, then side 2 will open with 'In The City', a cover of a song by the Jam. I can’t say I’m aware of the original, but I liked this cover as it’s catchy as hell and the bass on this stands out, driving the track along. “Bent” ups the tempo and edges back more to the sort of aggressive punk/metal of 'Coma'. Here it sounds like CJ has opted to try something different as it appears that there is some sort of programming going on during the song and it will be interesting to see if CJ decides to explore this option more going forward.

Despite being an old Punk at heart, when CJ decides to open up and get emotional (or as emotional as he does) he writes without a doubt the highlight of the album (maybe even his career) with 'You Got The Best Part of Me'. This song is so damn catchy, it’s a near perfect blend of vocal earworms and upbeat chords. It seriously does deserve to get some decent radio airplay, or a video made for it – In 3 minutes, CJ manages to write a song that a lot of the big boys would give their left bollock to write. I normally gravitate to the heavier songs CJ writes, but I love this song so much – In fact, I feel so lucky to have been able to add gang vocals to such a great song. Where do you go after all the punky mushy stuff ha ha? Obviously, it’s back another of those aggressive punk/metal-esque tracks. 'Slots' is a nasty little banger that nails its point home and makes perfect use of the gang vocals that litter this album. If the guitar tones on this track are sick, then the high-pitched dissonant guitars on the pre chorus and interludes are downright evil. I don’t know how he comes up with stuff like this as it’s like he’s found the perfect sound to describe his Devilspit Extreme hot sauce in musical form. 'Slots' ends with the perfect closer for this album in,'“I Don’t Know What It Is'. It’s another sleazy track that’ll have you wanting to scream along to it

'Slots' feels like an album that punches you square in the face, then soothes your sore face with its earworms, before screaming at you (in punk style) to get back up and pogo like your life depends on it. The outro to on the last song sums up the whole album to me– a house party where the whole house has been trashed, but everyone is having such a good time that no one cares. To think that 'Slots' dropped 13 months after 'Split' was released is unreal, the quality of the album is near perfect. Don’t be fooled by it only being 10 songs long at just over 30 mins in length as it just makes you want to push repeat and enjoy it again as there really is no filler on this banging release.

Album Highlights : 'Beg', 'Coma', 'Best Part of Me'