Pretenders
(Shangri-La Music)
The simple answer: yes, Chrissie Hynde's Pretenders are still relevant.
Hynde is the only remaining Pretender (original drummer Martin Chambers will still tour with the band, but the legendary Jim Keltner takes his seat for this album), and she has drafted some comparatively young guns, notably the Pernice Brothers' James Walbourne on guitars and Son Volt's Eric Heywood on pedal steel. The two guitarists, with Hynde and her rhythm guitar, give Break Up the Concrete a surprisingly straightforward roots rock sound: these songs look back to "Tombstone Blues"-era Dylan (on "Boot of Chinese Plastic"), to Bo Diddley (on the title track) and to the Byrds (on the cynical ballad "The Nothing Maker").
It's a shift from Hynde's well-established affinity for first generation Brit pop and for the punk rock that she helped to birth, but it works: Hynde is energized on the zippy tracks and impassioned on the ballads. Hynde is an underrated ballad singer, and "Don't Lose Faith in Me" ranks among her best. So does, surprisingly, Break Up the Concrete.
Standout Tracks: "Don't Lose Faith in Me," "Boots of Chinese Plastic" STEVE KLINGE
