Emily: Chrissie Hynde should rank up there with Joan Jett on the list of badass old-school punk chicks. Hynde may not be as well-known or perform as often as Jett still does, but both have been playing classic punk rock for decades and are way cooler wearing a guitar and a black tank top than you or I could ever hope to be. Another similarity between them is that they're both still fronting their longtime bands: Jett with the Blackhearts, and Hynde with the Pretenders. Though both have gone through lineup changes over the years, their main constants have been the persistence of their frontwomen and the badassery of their music. And much as Jett still mostly plays her early stuff, I'm sure Hynde throws a few tracks off of her band's self-titled debut into every setlist. And for good reason: this album had the spirit of punk tied into the emerging sounds of new wave and alternative. Plus Brass in Pocket is catchy as all hell. That alone should be enough for Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders to be included in the same category as Joan Jett.
Favorite Tracks: Brass in Pocket; Precious; Private Life
Zack: I originally had this album classified as new
wave, which ended up being awesome because it meant we listened to one more
punk album and one less new wave album. I can think of exactly 0 scenarios
where that is a bad thing. The Pretenders had some new wave/pop flair to it,
but the nuts and bolts of the album were pretty much pure punk. I loved that
about it. It didn’t necessarily have the speed, but everything else was there.
But, most importantly, synths were barely there. I can’t stress enough how much
that meant to me. Overall, then, The Pretenders was a good album that serves as
a precursor for the pop-punk movement we saw a few decades later.
Favorite Tracks: Stop Your Sobbing; Private Life; Tattooed
Love Boys
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