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The Pretenders
!Viva El Amor!
Warner Bros.
Grade: A
Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde
is a maternal siren of rock ‘n roll.
Androgynous, eye-makeup sexy
and motherly all at the same time,
Hynde has embraced rock’s traditions
without making cliches of them.
For the most part, at least.
Hynde and her Pretenders haven’t
hit such time-proven targets with
punches of panache as of late. Their
last album, 1994’s “Last of the
Independents,” was uninspired and
self-righteous.
For Pretenders fans, so comes the
band’s new album, “!'Viva El Amor!,”
like a cold bottle of Newcastle after
five years on a Budweiser-only
wagon.
The record features one Spanish
sung tune, and the title’s English
translation is “Long Live
Love.”Teeming with attitude, the
release’s first track, “Popstar,”
explodes and bounces to a fuzzy bass
line. This elementally basic song
could pass for a PJ Harvey composi
tion with the mentioned bass effect
and overall marriage of old rock and
new roll.
“Popstar” is a playful and ram
bling vocal sprawl aimed at an old
boyfriend.
With that in mind, honest and
inspired song writing has always been
Hynde’s fan-making delivery.
Her sometimes tough, sometimes
feathery vocals, plain-spoken lyrics
and often roaring guitar riffs sound
like black tears raining from Hynde’s
mascara duct falls.
Hynde’s personality is embedded
in feminine originality, though she
has the power to speak for all slightly
darkened searchers of romance.
Her sense of common relation
ship themes has lubricated the
Pretenders’ mythology into a normal,
shared experience. Hynde’s most
poignant deliveries translate to chil
dren-bound mothers and crusty old
barflies.
“Human,” the second track on the
new album, rounds up some prime
Hyndinian soul and has been market
ed as the record’s hit single.
A pretty guitar line and a solid
mid-tempo snare hit play anchor to
Hynde’s sultry and strong sense of
female voice.
Here, Hynde’s once again elo
quently tosses her raw-meat lyrics to
her hungry fans with the careful
delivery of a mother hen.
“Well there’s blood and there’s
veins and I cry when there’s pain. I’m
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only human on the inside,” she sings
on “Human,” with a balance of emo
tion and restraint.
The rest of the 12-song record
unravels like all good Pretenders’
albums do with enchanting ballads
and rockers that bark like philosophi
cal wolverines.
“Nails in the Road” and
“Samurai” are two of the many stand
out tracks.
Why the Spanish album title?
Hard to explain. Song 11, “Rabo De
Nube,” might be the best lead for
sleuths of Pretenders’ syntax.
“Rabo De Nube” means “Tails of
a Cloud” in English - if that helps at
all.
Musically speaking, this timeless
and somber tune once again proves
Hynde’s throaty prowess.
Her vocal command makes storm
and sunlight throughout the
record.Like her work on 1987’s
“Learning to Crawl,” Hynde’s sings
more-rocking tunes like she’s giving
a well-deserved lecture. She softly
croons ballads as if they were lulla
bies of hard reality.
When Pretenders’ songs are as
effective as the ones on “! Viva El
Amor!,” they ring with pain and joy
as if they were giving birth.
— Christopher Heine