British female formation ‘Girlschool’ has been around for 45 years. ‘WTFortyfive?” is their 14th studio album, the release date is 28 July. The first few seconds of ‘It Is What It Is’ are quite quiet, then the ” speed rolls on”. The lead vocals are pleasantly raw. The backing vocals and music are rousing, soon making you want to sing along. Instrumental parts alternate with vocal ones, the hard rock remains catchy. When the tempo slows down at times, the rock and raw vocals remain present. The balance between the sometimes screaming guitar work and the rhythm section is fine. Guest musicians on board are Joe Stump and Phil Campbell, among others. The structure of the songs is quite predictable, although there are certainly some nice details and outros. ‘WTFortyfive?” consists largely of rousing hard rock, but there are also pop elements.

(7/10) (Silver Lining Music)

Tracklist:
01 – It Is What It Is
02 – Cold Dark Heart
03 – Bump In The Night
04 – Barmy Army
05 – Invisible Killer
06 – Believing In You
07 – It’s A Mess
08 – Into The Night
09 – Are You Ready? (feat. Joe Stump)
10 – Up To No Good
11 – Party
12 – Born To Raise Hell (feat. Biff Byford, Phil Campbell & Duff McKagan)

Line-up:
Kim McAuliffe – guitar/vocals
Denise Dufort – drums
Jackie Chambers – guitar/backing vocals
Tracey Lamb – bass

Girlschool – WTFortyfive?

De Britse damesformatie ‘Girlschool’ bestaat alweer 45 jaar. ‘WTFortyfive?’ is hun 14e studioalbum, de release datum is 28 juli. De eerste paar seconden van ‘It Is What It Is’ zijn vrij rustig, dan gaat het “gas erop”. De lead zang is aangenaam rauw. De backing vocals en de muziek zijn opzwepend, al snel wil je meezingen. Instrumentale delen worden afgewisseld met vocale, de hardrock blijft pakkend. Als het tempo soms wat lager ligt, blijven de rock en ruwe zang aanwezig. De balans tussen het soms gillende gitaarwerk en de ritmesectie is prima. De gastmuzikanten zijn onder andere Joe Stump en Phil Campbell. De opbouw van de nummers is vrij voorspelbaar, al zijn er zeker leuke details en outro’s. ’WTFortyfive?’ bestaat grotendeels uit opzwepende hardrock, maar er zijn ook pop elementen.

(7/10) (Silver Lining Music)