Mighty Girlschool returns for their fourteenth-long burner and first music in nearly ten years. The title track refers to longevity. The way they deliver to the max on a record steeped in themes of doing your best, road doggin’ it, and standing true to your friends shows why they have lasted so long. It is a seize your own destiny type of album that connects in a big way and works wonders on the spirit the way the best rock n’ roll should.
Girlschool are not gonna wait to see what the devil’s got in store and what you see is what you get. Pure lifer material. Forty-five is my age. This band has been around my entire fucking life. That is so inspiring. I’ve spent a lot of time in lower moments wondering if doing what I love was worth the harder, leaner times. Albums like this remind me that it was all worth it and I have a wealth of priceless memories of my own that some people would kill for. Kim McAuliffe sounds absolutely incredible on this record vocally. Like later Krokus, the mix is a smart balance of hard rockin’ elements prominent but the vocals also get their due in the mix while not overpowering.
‘Cold Dark Heart’ has a Ministry -‘Thieves’ chug to it by way of Heart‘s ‘Barracuda’. It is the darkest and heaviest sounding stomper and the chorus evokes L7 level grungy stomp. It would also work great in a first-person video game as part of an adventurous soundtrack.’ Bump In The Night’ is another notable track, a rollicking examination of fear and being in crazy places. At the same time, some risks are worth taking. If it weren’t for Girlschool paving the way in a daunting boys club we might never have had The Donnas, No Small Children, or Thundermother to grace our ears, to name a few.
‘Believing In You’ is perhaps the heart of the album, a win-some/lose-some mid-paced anthem with a huge chorus that is a true friend in sonic, rough around the edges “no regrets” form. It is followed by the excellent, boppy power pop-laced Bangles adjacent ‘It’s A Mess’, a perfect song that encapsulates the need to wake up and see the mess humanity is making of the world. I dare you to not get the melodies stuck in your head for days.
https://youtu.be/tYX2qXgCmi4
The album doesn’t take the listener for granted and you always feel part of the Girlschool “Barmy Army” (one of the best fan appreciation tracks in rock history, I’ll go on the record and say). The record fittingly also ends with an all-star studded tribute to Lemmy from Motörhead. He was a great champion of women in rock from Doro to Girlschool to my friends in Cycle Sluts From Hell: ‘Born To Raise Hell’ features Biff Byford, Duff McKagan, and Phil Campbell rockin’ with the ladies here and it is a kick-ass rendition. “Show us you care, show us you dare. You don’t know what happened, not if you weren’t there.”
Thank you to Kim, Denise Dufort, Jackie Chambers and Tracey Lam for helping keep us true believers.
Buy the album here:
https://smarturl.it/WTFortyfive
8 / 10
MORGAN Y. EVANS