The Pretenders: Break Up the Concrete

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Ben Greenman wrote in the New Yorker: "The title of 'Boots of Chinese Plastic,' which leads off the Pretenders’ new album, 'Break Up the Concrete' (Shangri-La), alludes to Bob Dylan’s 'Boots of Spanish Leather,' but the song’s propulsive rhythm and surreal lyrics mark it as a close cousin to another Dylan song, 'Tombstone Blues.' In just over two and a half minutes, the lead singer and songwriter, Chrissie Hynde, touches on everything from reincarnation to the global marketplace to the difficulties of ethical living. The next song, 'The Nothing Maker,' supplies some yin to go with the yang. … For years, the Pretenders have been a band in name only, consisting of a bunch of young hired hands doing the bidding of Hynde and, usually, the founding drummer, Martin Chambers. This time, Chambers is absent, though his replacement — the session veteran Jim Keltner — is a great deal more than capable. That’s true of the entire band, in fact: the English guitarist James Walbourne, the pedal-steel player Eric Heywood, and the bassist Nick Wilkinson. … Hynde has written a superb set of songs here" (10/6/08, p. 20).