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With a press release which states Hole’s recent live performance at SXSW was greeted with ‘glowing reviews’, after actually listening to the album you might wonder if these were actually just promo copies of new album 'Nobody's Daughter' with ‘shit’ written across the inlay being burnt by the more rock ‘n’ roll music journalists who, after receiving advance copies, were standing at the back of the gig playing BrickBreaker on their BlackBerrys.
For a band who haven't released an album in over 10 years, and a solo singer in Courtney Love who hasn't in six, you’d wonder what they have been doing since. Calling the lyrics interesting would be a compliment with the fifth track, 'Samantha', showing off her clearly poetical skills with “People like you, fuck people like me, fuck people like you, fuck people like me” for almost a minute. It's plain to see that Love hasn't been writing lyrics for the last half a decade.
Elsewhere, 'Skinny Little Bitch' sounds like someone has been smoking too many cigarettes and drank a litre of vodka. 'Letter To God' sounds like it was written just after she had completed her first detox session and by the time the needle got to the bonus track 'Never Go Hungry' even the equaliser on Windows Media Player looked like it had had enough.
It's not all bad news though. At times the album does shine through the cracks and for a few songs you can’t prevent your fingers tapping and chorus staying in your head whilst the song changes track. 'Pacific Cost Highway' sings about ‘the whole wide world’ being in her hands, which is not to be misinterpreted as wallet or fortune, featuring a peaceful acoustic set of chord changes and Love’s best vocals on the whole LP. Later 'For Once in Your Life', although sounding a little similar to a Avril Lavigne song, tells a sweet but bitter story at least.
The main downfall isn't the music or production, nor at times is it the lyrics or Love’s voice, it's just the feel you get whilst listening to it. It features a selection of different styles and tempos, showcasing Love has got talent, but still each song still somehow feels like a stagnant echo of the past. You can’t connect with the album and it won't connect with you.
'Nobody's Daughter' is supposed to be a reminder that Hole are now back and more bad-ass than before, but in reality it's just a reminder that reformations, although at times successful, ultimately should just be used as an excuse to showcase old material to a new crowd.
