Ginger Wildheart - It Came From The North (2025) [FLAC] {Round Records RRCD023}
Release Info:
RLSDATE: 2025/09/13 RTLDATE: 2025/XX/XX
GENRE: Rock SiZE: 409 MB
SOURCE: CD RUNTiME: 46:03
RiPPER: EAC 1.8 ENCODER: FLAC 1.5
DRiVE: ASUS SW-16D1X-U ORiGiN: US
RELEASE: Round Records RRCD023
MATRiX: 10755-CD-001-A
with log/cue/nfo/m3u/sfv/300 dpi scans.
TommyGirad (dot) wordpress (dot) com adds. . .
While The Wildhearts have split up and been reformed over the last few years
(including the release of a new and somewhat reenergised album, Satanic Rites Of
The Wildhearts) their leader, Ginger Wildheart, has somewhat inevitably been
churning out his own music away from the band and the latest outcome of that is It
Came From The North (featuring some terrific artwork inspired by the bottles for
Newcastle Brown Ale by LittleFishDesign UK).
While the writing and recording of the album seemed a relatively straightforward
affair (as much as anyone on the outside can tell) with most of the instrumentation
being performed by Ginger or co-producer Dave Draper, along with a selection of
other collaborators for more specific parts, the release has been somewhat tortuous
with delays on physical versions suggesting, rather disappointingly, that the
previously successful crowdfunding model Ginger has used isn’t working like it once
did.
While the digital version has been available for some time the CD editions have now
started landing so I thought it finally a good time to have a proper listen (much
because I prefer to have things on CD where I can).
It Came From The North then opens in surprisingly rocking form given Gingers more
recent solo and side project output, with Mystery Thing that has a similar punk-
metal vibe to his eponymous band but with, possibly, a slightly glam edge making it
somewhat akin to his Headzapoppin album.
This sort of sound stays in place for the first few songs, though it goes off on
tangents throughout as we’d expect and, as has become customary for his solo work,
these are far more generically wide ranging than he ever really does these days
with The Wildhearts.
In many ways this gives the whole record a feel that, sonically at least, harks
back to at least 555% if not even further to the like of Yoni and Valor Del Corazon
for the first six tracks at least, however lyrically, for the most part, it gives
us something different - more on that shortly.
The two tracks that follow are something rather different as they come in the form
of covers.
The second of them (which I’ll deal with first) is a relatively direct cover,
albeit of a very much less well known song - Captain Invincible by Richard O'Brien
(of The Rocky Horror Show and Crystal Maze fame) taken from the early 1980s
Australian super hero comedy musical, The Return Of Captain Invincible, which here
feels somewhat like an anthem of self empowerment.
The first of the covers, rather more uniquely, combines a pair of songs into one in
a way that is entirely unexpected. The two songs in question are Munchener
Freiheit's slice of Neue Deutsche Welle Keeping The Dream Alive and The Dream
Academy's 1985 new wave hit single Life In A Northern Town, which merge to create
Keeping The Dream Alive In A Northern Town.
This captures a big part of the overall lyrical themes of the record as it at once
explores both notions of home (as does the rather more obviously titled Home) and
broader more social and political ideas as also heard on Jaw Meet Floor,
Marshmallows, Rusty Veritas and Pigment & Proxy generally without much of a ranting
anger but more a resigned frustration - albeit one that still clearly has a fire
not far beneath the surface.
This is all then capped off by the far more epic nine and a half minutes of
Becoming Hieronymus Bosch which wanders its way through different musical passages,
including some that hark back to Ginger’s past work, as really only the 'Geordie In
Wonderland' does, while its comparatively brief set of lyrics again combine the
general issues raised across the rest of the record, but in a far more abstract
fashion.
While It Came From The North then may not at first feel like the most accessible
piece of Ginger Wildheart’s work compared to some of his past releases it is a
surprisingly enjoyable listen that continues to reveal more on multiple plays and
has been more than worth waiting through the manufacturing and distribution issues
for.
Ripper's Notes:
What matters is the music, not the drama. So, I'll just say enjoy.
If you chose to share this, or any other release, elsewhere, please
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As always, that just about covers it!
Enjoy, and SEED!
Your friendly neighborhood Zoloft
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