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KP says: Wendy James - I Came Here To Blow Minds   Rating: Rating: 6/6   
Updated: 2010-10-30 00:45:05    Type:  cd/vinyl review     English  View Comment Details   
So, what has Wendy James been up to, since the days of one of the greatest pop-rock bands of the late eighties and early nineties?

Transvision Vamp was an awesome band - totally on par with the 2 other bands I'd place in the same category: Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Westworld. Generally they were all underrated by reviewers, but in reality way above their reputation and way better than the competition.

Wendy did a 10 track solo album Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears [1993] of Elvis Costello penned songs accompanied by no less than 12 b-side tracks. I've never been a particular big fan of that album, but some of the songs are not bad at all, especially some of the b-sides.

After that she made 2 albums as Racine. The first one was a great album that I really like (Racine #1 [2004]) having a pleasant mix of electronica and pop and mostly being a solo album (I believe...)

The second Racine album (Racine #2 [2007]) had more of a garage rock attitude and was a full band effort. It worked really well live and I was lucky enough to see them at Stengade 30 in 2007, but as an album it lacked a bit. Some of the songs were simply not quite strong enough.

The new album has been on it's way for a long time and thanks to Facebook we've been able to get updates all along the way. Sometimes things are worth the wait and in this case they really are. It is clearly Wendy's best solo effort and it's quite simply a genuinely great album. It mixes everything that was great on her first solo album and on the 2 Racine albums and even some things back from the Transvision Vamp days.

It is a perfect mix of folk and garage rock. The album has up-tempo rock songs that rock like fuckin' hell. Some of it is more or less spoken words and then it has totally catchy pop music. The sequence is perfect and the album just keeps growing every time you play it.

I am not going to highlight one single song, because I'm simply in love with the entire album. It has 13 songs that fit perfectly well together. Song titles like New Wave Flowered Up Main Street Acid Baby and You're A Fucking Mess, But You Sure Is Pretty sets the mood. (and yeah, 13 is a lucky number, my birthday is the 13th.)

If you ever loved Wendy James and/or Transvision Vamp then I am absolutely sure you will love this awesome album. And yes, Wendy is still very hot! She came here to blow minds. And yeah, that's what she fucking does! Mine's been blown, anyway.
[2010, iTunes]
 
Wendy James - I Came Here To Blow Minds (cd/vinyl review)
Wendy James - I Came Here To Blow Minds (cd/vinyl review)
 
Cd/vinyl reviews:
Wendy James : "Queen High Straight (deluxe)"  ♦  Racine - 2
 
Concert reviews:
Wendy James @ Rough Trade East / Old Blue Last - London, Live, 2016-02-15  ♦  Racine (Wendy James) - Stengade 30 - Copenhagen - 2007-04-27 - Live
 
Music comments:
30 albums I would take with me to a galaxy far far way  ♦  Bye baj 2018, Hej Haj 2019  ♦  New records added to my collection - 2020  ♦  Top 1000 - Albums - Year 2020