The Pretenders
The 50 Best Alt-Rock Love Songs
Not all love songs are romantic. Not all love songs are even happy. It all depends on your definition of the term. For every “My Girl” or “Your Song,” there’s at least one track with a nuanced take on the darker, more complicated sides of love — the drama of a long-term relationship, the fear of losing a partner, the void left in love’s wake. Many of those songs fall under the admittedly broad umbrella of “alt-rock.” So to mark Valentine’s Day, we decided to gather 50 of our favorite “love songs” in the genre — both conventional and otherwise. Throughout this list, you’ll find lines about blooming romance and marital bliss. You’ll also find nods to drug addiction and car crashes. There’s something for everyone. – Ryan Reed 50. that dog. – “I’m Gonna See You” You take the good, you tak...
Chrissie Hynde Talks 40 Years of Pretenders and Punk Rock
“I’m having the time of my life,” Pretenders’ frontwoman Chrissie Hynde quipped when asked how she’s holding up. It’s a strange sensation releasing an album during a pandemic and not being able to tour. However, music has remained a grounding force for her and her bandmates, as evidenced by the band’s latest (and 11th overall) album Hate for Sale, which came out last week. For Hynde, the album is a work that was years in the making and a long-overdue opportunity to finally capture the band’s live chemistry on a record. Despite technically being the first album in four years under the Pretenders banner, it’s the first to fully feature the band’s current touring lineup since 2008: Hynde, guitarist James Walbourne, bassist Nick Wilkinson, and founding drummer Martin Chambers. “We’ve alwa...
The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde Covers Bob Dylan’s ‘Standing in the Doorway’
While they’ve been in quarantine, Chrissie Hynde and James Walbourne of The Pretenders have been putting together their own series of songs called “Dylan Lockdown Series.” And their latest collaborative cover is Bob Dylan’s “Standing in the Doorway,” off 1997’s Time Out of Mind. Sticking to a similar arrangement to the original, piano, organ and electric guitar with light drums provides a soft pillow for Hynde’s vocals to lie on. Meanwhile, the video showcases a lot of outdoor space — something many people are wishing for right now — giving the song a place to breathe. “Thanks one more to Tchad Blake on mixing duties and the whole Blake family for the video,” she posted on Instagram to announce the new recording. The Pretenders have been gearing up for the release of their new album, Hate ...
