2000 Great Songs #1289: Tattooed Love Boys
Not a huge Pretenders fan, which is why we're only now seeing a second Pretenders track make the list. I mean, they're perfectly fine, the sort of band with a ton of great singles who come on the radio and I'm always happy to hear them, even if I wouldn't pull out their records on my own (kinda like Tom Petty and Creedence Clearwater Revival ). Partly I just kinda wish they were more adventurous. I mean, Chrissie Hynde is one of rock & roll's true groundbreakers, up there with Joan Jett ; and in the early days especially the band was as skilled as anyone else around. Yet they often settled for decent enough pop songs instead of capitalizing on all that talent. Which is why I love "Tattooed Love Boys," off their 1980 eponymous debut. It's the frenetic post-punk blast I wish they did more often. Hynde is thoroughly amped up, and the band cuts loose with some unpredictable math rock, a screwed-up time signature (man, this one was tough to pull off o...
