THE PRETENDERS : PRETENDERS LIVE - KICK 'EM WHERE IT HURTS!

THE PRETENDERS : PRETENDERS LIVE - KICK 'EM WHERE IT HURTS!

Losing My Sense Of Taste
Turf Accountant Daddy
Talk Of The Town
The Buzz
Thumbelina
The Losing
Private Life
You Can't Hurt A Fool
Don't Cut Your Hair
Let The Sun Come In
I Think About You Daily
Biker
Boots Of Chinese Plastic
Back On The Chain Gang
Time The Avenger
Hate For Sale
Middle Of The Road

Label : Chrissie Hynde

Venue : various

Recording Date : 2024

Release Date : June 20, 2025

Length : 71:52

Review (Bourbon And Vinyl) : The Pretenders just released a new live album (a double live album on vinyl!) entitled Kick Em Where It Hurts. The album artwork, with pink lettering running down the left side and green letters along the bottom, recalls Elvis Presley’s debut album later also mimicked by the Clash on London Calling. That all seems pretty cool to me, but then I really do love live albums, Elvis Presley, and the Clash. When I first heard about the Pretenders releasing a live album I was hard-pressed to remember if they’d ever released a live album before. Certainly there was nothing I’d seen on any list of “Essential Live Albums,” and there wasn’t one from them on my own list. Upon doing some research, I see that the Pretenders have released a handful of live records over the years, but only one merited it’s own Wikipedia page, The Isle Of View, which was apparently a stripped down acoustic affair in the style of the Unplugged series. I love it when a band as storied as the Pretenders puts out a live album. The Pretenders line-up has had a lot of changes over the years and on this record we find Chrissie Hynde (vocals/guitar) joined by James Walbourne (lead guitar) whose been with the band since 2008, Dave Page (bass) and apparently James’ brother Rob Walbourne (drums). Of course, Chrissie and her band are a long way down the road from their 1980 debut album. The original line-up which included Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar), Pete Farndon (bass) and Martin Chambers (drums) only survived for 2 records. After those two phenomenal albums (Pretenders and Pretenders II), in a very strange twist, the band fired original bass player Farndon due to his drug problems 9only to have a few days later Honeyman-Scott die of an overdose. Farndon would succumb to the same fate a year later. Martin Chambers has been in and out of the band but I think he may have retired. I haven’t seen him credited on an album since Hate For Sale. Chrissie and Martin recruited new players for their fabulous 1984 album, a bit of a comeback, Learning To Crawl. Those three albums alone would merit “legend” status here, but they’ve continued recording to this day. If we consider live albums there are really two kinds of live LPs to my mind. You have those career defining live albums like the Allman Brothers’ At Fillmore East. And for bands that have been around a lot longer, you have live albums that feature more as a “snapshot in time.” Critics like to deride those albums as mere “concert souvenirs” but what’s wrong with that? Not everybody gets to see their favorite band on each tour? The Stones released two such albums last year, Live At The Wiltern and Welcome To Shepherd’s Bush. Both of those were from tours from around the turn of the millennium. That’s not to say those “snapshot” kind of albums can’t be fabulous records on their own right, let alone career defining. It’s nice that the Stones have a live album from almost every tour they’ve done. Many of those like Live At The El Mocambo are what I consider essential Stones’ listening. I would probably describe Kick Em Where It Hurts as more of a “snapshot” in time type of live album but it captures the Pretenders on a hot streak. I’ve lauded their last two albums on B&V before, 2020’s Hate For Sale and 2023’s Relentless. Chrissie and Walbourne have really hit a groove and Walbourne is a great guitar foil, perhaps Chrissie’s best since Honeyman-Scott passed. Those last two records are the kind of late career gems that B*V was founded to extol and they feature heavily on this live LP. I’ve always considered the Pretenders to be punk, but I guess technically they’re post-punk or New Wave. Regardless they can rock with a ferocity and always have but yet can slow it down for a nice ballad when they want to. They certainly do both here. I love when bands put out a new album and then feature that new material in concert. Too many bands just trot out the greatest hits every tour. This live album captures the Pretenders featuring seven tracks from their last two records. They recorded this on last year’s tour of theaters. Hynde prefers playing in small halls instead of stadiums as she can connect with the audience better. I’ve only seen them once, alas, and it was in an arena when they opened for the Stones. They were phenomenal even as openers. Hynde oozes charisma. They only touch on the debut and second album with one song each here. Learning To Crawl does get four tracks featured here, but it’s probably their commercial peak. They flesh out the rest of the album with stray tracks from a number of albums with only Breaking Up The Concrete seeing two tracks included. It’s a great picture of who the Pretenders are right now. They kick things off with a rousing couple of newer tracks, the punchy murk of “Losing My Sense Of Taste,” starts us off and then it’s time for a hard rocking version of “Turf Daddy Accountant.” I love that they start off with newer tracks…although that might have thrown the audience hoping to still hear “Precious” again. They go back to the early days, to the second album, with an ethereal “Talk Of The Town.” Until hearing this live version, I never realized how Byrds/jangly the guitars were. After dipping into the rocking newer song “The Buzz” the launch into “Thumbelina” which turns into a rockabilly guitar show case for Walbourne. The guy can really play, his guitar is all over this album. They slow things down for a song I wasn’t familiar with, which Hynde describes as being about “gambling,” “The Losing.” I really dug this ballad… proof that I may need to do a little more spelunking into the Pretenders catalog. They follow that up with a track from the debut, an atmospheric “Private Life,” which just sounds great here. Walbourne wails on that one with intermittent bursts of guitar squall. They bring it down again for the gorgeous ballad “You Can’t Hurt A Fool” that ended up on my April Fool’s Playlist, Songs About Fools. But they kick the rock back in with a rollicking “Don’t Cut Your Hair,” which just seems like good advice, “Let your freak flag fly.” That’s followed up with my “summer jam song” from two years ago, “Let The Sun Come In.” “We don’t have to get fat, we don’t have to get old…we don’t have to fade to black…let the sun come in.” Great stuff! They bring it back down for a beautiful ballad, “I Think About You Daily,” a sentiment we’ve all probably felt at one time or another. Then there’s a song I hadn’t heard in a really long time, “Biker,” which makes me wonder if maybe Hynde is a little obsessed with bikers? What a guitar solo for that track… It’s the final ballad of the performance. From there they hit their stride with “Boots of Chinese Plastic” (clearly a riff on Dylan’s “Boots Of Spanish Leather,” Hynde did do a Dylan covers LP a few years ago), “Back On The Chain Gang,” “Time The Avenger” (both from Learning To Crawl) and then “Hate For Sale.” They end it on the great “Middle Of The Road.” Is this a live album that’s going to change your life like say, Thin Lizzy’s Live And Dangerous? Probably not, but it’s a helluva performance from one of our greatest bands, the Pretenders. Chrissie Hynde is one of my favorite rock n roll legends and as long as she’s out there banging out her brand of righteous racket, I’m here for it. This is a great one to spin out by the pool. Lots of rocking and fabulous lead guitar accompanied by some sweet ballads. How often do we get to hear master rock n rollers practicing their craft these days? I know that I, for one, am going to be looking out for these guys next time they come anywhere near my city… Of course I may have to leave the Rock Chick at home… I’m not sure she shares my love of the Pretenders but “nobody’s perfect, not even the perfect stranger…” Cheers!