Take your seats children! Girlschool is in session! That’s right kiddies, today we’ll be learning about a band of badass British babes who have been kicking ass and taking names now for 45 years. Wait, hold on a second *checks notes* 45 years? Has it really been that long since Girlschool first exploded onto the scene, becoming an integral part of the NWOBHM movement? If so, how can it be possible that they remain so vibrant, energized, and flat-out heavy after all these years? Have these ladies drank from the fountain of youth?!
Yes, even yours truly who deals with veteran bands on the regular was rather taken aback by Girlschool’s 45th anniversary milestone. It feels just like yesterday I was a hormonal 13 year old watching the video for “Please Don’t Touch” with Motörhead on VH1 Classic’s Metal Mania on our family room floor. Alas, that was now half a lifetime ago and VH1 Classic (now MTV Classic) is no longer part of our cable package (damn you U-Verse). So here we are, Girlschool and I: Older, somewhat wiser, but still as crazy about hard and heavy music as ever.
If you’re vaguely familiar with Girlschool’s back catalog, then you already have a good idea what lies within the grooves of their latest album, WTFortyfive?. This is stripped down, no frills, old school heavy metal rock n’ roll, with emphasis on gang choruses and gnarly riffs. Much like AC/DC and the aforementioned Motörhead, Girlschool found their niche decades ago and have stuck to it. You don’t listen to an album of this nature and expect the wheel to be reinvented. No, you expect rowdy, drunken, pub metal singalongs, and you get them on cuts like “It Is What It Is”, “Barmy Army”, and “Are You Ready?”.
Even the songs that stray slightly outside the lines are distinctly Girlschool. “Cold Dark Heart” lives up to its name, being unusually bleak and heavy by Girlschool standards, but still catchy as ever. The bubblegum metal of “It’s a Mess” reminds me of classic KISS with its metalized power pop riffs and sweet harmonious vocals coming to a head-on collision. My choice cut, “Into the Night”, is moody and melodic, reminiscent of the Play Dirty era sans the commercialized 80s production. Rounding it all out is a star-studded cover of Motörhead’s “Born to Raise Hell”, featuring Saxon’s Biff Byford, Motörhead’s Phil Campbell, and Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan. Talk about a party!
All in all, WTFortyfive? is a fitting celebration for one of metal’s most groundbreaking acts. It’s amazing, yet unsurprising, that in their crusade to honor any and every female musical act that ISN’T rock, the Rock and Roll Hall of Lame have failed to recognize Girlschool for their contributions to actual rock music. While we hope that one day Jann Wenner and his band of musically illiterate morons will wake up and smell the Demolition, we here at Defenders salute Girlschool with our horns raised in the air and a cold glass of brew. Cheers lasses!
7 out of 10
Label: Silver Lining Music
Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
For fans of: Motörhead, Rock Goddess, The Runaways
THANK YOU!