Wildhearts

At least a decade before the Darkness were making a killing exploiting riffy, retro good-time party rock, the Wildhearts were most un-ironically raising the goblet of scuzzy glam metal at a time when the grunge movement was pushing the likes of Skid Row and Mötley Crüe into the underground. After years of unstable membership and addiction problems left the band in ruins, Ginger has pulled it together and with the help of those very same Darkness yobs (who, though referencing them and contributing to their recordings has given them much-needed North American exposure) has assembled a comeback of sorts. Borrowing liberally from the driving fuzz and shout-along choruses of Andrew W.K., the band's six album is a full-on party rock delight. It's an unapologetically slickly produced record with more hooks than a Japanese tuna trawler. Sure it's a big, silly record, but it's also a whole lot of fun to listen to.