Review Summary: Hoodlums, the third LP from the Wild Young Hearts, is a sure-fire way to lift the spirits with its pop punk and fast-paced punk rock melodies.
Hoodlums, the third LP from the Wild Young Hearts, is a sure-fire way to lift the spirits with its pop punk and fast-paced punk rock melodies. The three piece band from Southern California, returns two years after the release of Feel Good with an album brimming with youthful optimism, vigour and passion. Their lyrics overtly refer to stories about love gone wrong, alcohol-fuelled adventures and living the Californian dream.
The themes of the lyrics in Hoodlums are not always uplifting but the guitar driven music with sweet bass lines and perfectly placed percussion, give to the songs a very positive, at times playful, vibe. Add the opening track My Oldest Friend to your playlist, go for a run and for a few minutes you get the feeling you’re basking in the Californian sunshine thanks to its sun-drenched surf-rock sound. It’s a way to increase your intake of vitamin D even in the most sun-deprived parts of England.
She’s High, one of the catchiest tunes in the album, is really as well-crafted as a rock n roll song as you can get. The humorous lyrics have the singer reeling off a long list of famous bands his girlfriend doesn’t appreciate. He puts their different taste in music down to her being intoxicated but to quote Nick Hornby ‘’it’s no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favourite films wouldn’t even speak to each other if they met at a party’’.
The trio from California have the knack for creating pop punk hooks but are at their best in this LP when they are going for a more raucous, raw and energetic punk rock sound such as in ’BTW’ and ‘Sunset Comatose’. The Wild Young Hearts sing about waking up wasted on the pavement but they are not shying away from singing about the most important matters. This happens on ‘Already Dead’, where the lyrics seem to be protesting police violence in the United States. It’s one of the standout tracks of the album not only for its strong, politically charged lyrics but because the guitars are heavy and the drums create an indelible mark on the song.
Hoodlums ends with ‘Every Time’, which is a song in stark contrast to the rest of the album. It’s an acoustic song that is written as a poignant tribute to the bass player and vocalist’s brother who died last year. It’s undoubtedly the most heartfelt, powerful song in this LP and all it takes is a man, his guitar and sharing his emotions.
