With new output in 2015 from UK Rock legends Motorhead and Saxon it’s fitting that Girlschool return to the fray with their contemporaries with their twelfth (or thirteenth if you see their 2011 reworking of the classic ‘Hit and Run’ as a new album) studio album. As the third band I ever saw live, (preceded only by UFO and their openers on that night Jaguar) I’ve always had a soft spot for them.
Forerunners of the all-girl rock band, really only predated by The Runaways, Girlschool have seen it all in their 5 decades in the business and the three original members are in fine fettle. There’s nothing subtle about ‘Guilty as Sin’ but then Girlschool was always the band that wanted to be treated on equal terms with their male contemporaries.
Sonically ‘Guilty’ seeks to capture that early ‘Hit and Run’ sound and attitude and manages it to a degree, decades after the release of course there’s nothing quite as spiky, but then so much time has passed the refinement is to be expected. ‘Come the Revolution’ is a great opener: in your face, ballsy, gritty and sounding better than they have in years it makes you believe again and takes you back simultaneously.
In truth this is a solid album, not a groundbreaking one. Tracks like the title track and ‘Take it Like a Band’ surprise you somewhat in how very good they are after a number of average releases, it’s almost as if the fire in the belly is there again. ‘Painful’ with its Def Leppard overtones too makes you think of the underrated (in my opinion) ‘Play Dirty’ the album that was produced by Noddy Holder and Jimmy Kea and with better promotion could well have seen the band’s star rise further, but that is water way under the bridge.
Most surprising of all perhaps are the covers – one of the immediately recognizable Bee Gees classic (well some would say that) ‘Staying Alive’ which rocks aplenty, and the other of the lesser-known Folk standard ‘Everybody Loves (Saturday Night)’ which sadly doesn’t work half as well.
All in all this is a solid album, sure to please fans, rekindle fond memories and hopefully enough to get you out to see the girls again where they excel- on the live stage.
