The new Pretenders album is really good.
It’s a little more rootsy than some of their (Chrissie Hynde’s) other albums, which makes it interesting. There’s that Bo Diddley beat on the title song, a call for destruction and rejuvenation. Also, the bonus tracks are great. “Tequila” is almost a parody of the pathos of country music, but the narrator’s voice of self-aware self-pity works, as she ends up in a bar in the cold Ohio winter, perhaps drinking alongside Townes Van Zandt’s Lefty.
I think the reason the Pretenders are pretty much my default band is that they combine just the right elements of American jangle-rock with New Wave/Punk sheen. I’ve always been fascinated with web sites and programs that suggest things you’ll like based on your other preferences, from a site called Firefly based at the MIT Media Lab in the early 90s to the new itunes Genius feature. A few years ago, I discovered that half my music collection can be summed up by the links on The Pretenders’ allmusic guide web page.
This is what it feels like to be me: certain Pretenders songs have exactly the rhythm and lilt of me in a cheerful (“Don’t Get Me Wrong”; “Who’s Who”) or driven (“Mystery Achievement”) mood. Well, and also when I’m happy sometimes Peter’s theme from Peter and the Wolf plays in my head.