The Wildhearts: 10 Tracks You Need To Call Yourself A Fan

After the band unexpectedly fired guitarist CJ in 1994, during the recording of p.h.u.q., they needed a replacement. In the short-term they enlisted Steve Vai’s guitarist Devin Townsend, while they searched for a more permanent solution.

This seemingly came in the form of Mark Keds, the frontman of Senseless Things who had just split up. His arrival had been much touted in the rock press, but Keds himself had denied he was joining on several occasions, even going so far as telling Kerrang! that The Wildhearts needed someone who was totally committed to the band, and that wasn’t him.

But in May of 1995 Keds changed his mind - via the extremely reliable method of flipping a coin - and joined The Wildhearts.

This flippancy about his career would backfire for the band he had joined just two months later, when The Wildhearts had to cancel a headline slot at Phoenix Festival after Keds failed to turn up, instead staying in Japan to start a new band of his own.

The sum total of his eight or so weeks as a member were the three b-sides to single Just In Lust, of which Friend For Five Minutes is one. It combines the band’s twin strengths of heaviness and melody to stunning effect, and is even more memorable for the unexpected irony of the song’s title.