{"id":100528,"date":"2025-10-17T09:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T08:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=100528"},"modified":"2025-10-16T22:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T21:12:08","slug":"review-militarie-gun-god-save-the-gun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-militarie-gun-god-save-the-gun\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Militarie Gun &#8211; God Save The Gun"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Militarie Gun<\/strong> are among a group of bands tied to the hardcore scene that have considerably broken out. However, like their contemporaries in Turnstile, they&#8217;ve stylistically expanded from what is &#8220;traditionally&#8221; expected from a hardcore band. Ever since its inception as a COVID-19 lockdown-induced solo project for frontman Ian Shelton,\u00a0<strong>Militarie Gun\u00a0<\/strong>has evolved into a beloved and\u00a0critically acclaimed band. 2023&#8217;s debut full-length,\u00a0<em>&#8216;Life Under The Gun,&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>accelerated their rise. Showered in rich melodies with a hardcore heart, it proved to be an infectious listen.<\/p>\n<p>Its follow-up, <em>&#8216;God Save The Gun,&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>should see a band on a precipice, yet for Shelton, it sees him looking inward. Its arc is a realisation of the person he has become, someone on a descent to rock bottom, even though Shelton has said he didn&#8217;t realise at first. As a protagonist, he&#8217;s self-destructive and self-loathing, yet he musically counters it with proven melodies. On a personal level,\u00a0<em>&#8216;God Save The Gun&#8217;<\/em> sees Shelton use his art to recognise and confront his struggles, documenting the realisation.<\/p>\n<p>As a collective, <strong>Militarie Gun\u00a0<\/strong>have been stunted by several line-up shake-ups. However, now with the solidified unit of Shelton, guitarists William Acu\u00f1a and Kevin Kiley, bassist Waylon Trim, and drummer David Stalsworth, they&#8217;re able to build on the momentum\u00a0<em>&#8216;Life Under The Gun&#8217;<\/em> provided.<\/p>\n<p>Although it doesn&#8217;t quite have the immediate favourability of its predecessor, there is still a lot to like about <em>&#8216;God Save The Gun&#8217; <\/em>(<em>&#8216;GSTG&#8217;<\/em>). After Shelton admits <em>&#8220;things have not been great&#8221;<\/em> on &#8216;<em>Pt II,&#8217;\u00a0<\/em><em>&#8216;B A D I D E A&#8217;<\/em> barges in with a rumbling bass and cheerleader chanting chorus. With its high-octane guitars and ramshackle percussion, it jumpstarts <em>&#8216;GSTG&#8217;<\/em> perfectly, even if lyrically covered in Shelton&#8217;s vulnerability.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Militarie Gun - Throw Me Away (Official Music Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/krcpBXGW_h8?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Fill Me With Paint&#8217;<\/em> and<em> &#8216;Throw Me Away&#8217;<\/em> form a devastating portrait of self-objectification, where Shelton reduces himself to a vessel for others&#8217; needs while desperately seeking validation through any means available. The former swirls skywards, partly thanks to Stalsworth&#8217;s energetic drum work. Whereas on the latter, a reliable and rigid rhythm backs <strong>Militarie Gun<\/strong>&#8216;s familiar sharpness.<em>\u00a0&#8216;God Owes Me Money&#8217;<\/em> then provides the origin story, its playful synth line contrasting bitter words aimed at his alcoholic parents. Admitting &#8220;<em>Now we both have this disease,&#8221;\u00a0<\/em>it comes armed with a faulty logic that surviving trauma entitles Shelton to take the same path.<\/p>\n<p>As the album progresses into its manic middle section, Shelton oscillates wildly between awareness and denial. <em>&#8216;Daydream&#8217;s<\/em> acoustics yearn for a reset, before his desperation comes to the forefront on <em>&#8216;Maybe I\u2019ll Burn My Life Down&#8217;<\/em>. Looking for some form of structure, it put his vulnerability front and centre. Its dense rhythm section and fuzzy guitars lean into its lyrical intensity. The unapologetic angst continues on\u00a0<em>&#8216;Kick&#8217;<\/em>. With its domestic violence imagery buried underneath siren guitars and distorted drums, it provides one of the album&#8217;s standout hooks; <em>&#8220;If I kicked you in the face, I\u2019m sorry, but I\u2019d do it again.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Shelton&#8217;s desperation continues even when <em>&#8216;Laugh At Me&#8217; <\/em>hints at tender dependency. As plucky guitars segue into a surging chorus, he revels in his destruction. His blissful admittance is maintained on\u00a0<em>&#8216;Wake Up and Smile&#8217;<\/em>. However, the musical quality is inconsistent, providing\u00a0<em>&#8216;GSTG&#8217;<\/em> with a temporary lull.<\/p>\n<p>The final act of &#8216;GSTG&#8217; is elevated by a theme of reconciliation and empathy. <em>&#8216;I Won\u2019t Murder Your Friend&#8217;<\/em> is the album&#8217;s centrepiece and emphasises Shelton&#8217;s internal battle, making him empathetic, rejecting suicide ideation, and needing support. Aided by a sample of David Choe talking about Anthony Bourdain&#8217;s suicide, it creates an uncomfortable tension clouded in bleak humour. Nonetheless, Shelton&#8217;s realisation is bridged by\u00a0<em>&#8216;Isaac&#8217;s Song&#8217;<\/em> interlude (featuring Modest Mouse&#8217;s\u00a0Isaac Brock). It neatly leads into <em>Thought You Were Waving&#8217;.\u00a0<\/em>Still as addictive as it was when it was first released over a year ago, it&#8217;s far from a tacked-on outlier. Beyond its dark humour and rich hooks, there is the context that Shelton had been misreading destructive signals as friendly signals. He&#8217;s consumed by his own survival to notice.<\/p>\n<p>The title track sees Shelton with purpose, encouraging change with desperate conviction. It&#8217;s complemented by a fuzzy bassline, punching snare drums, and big guitars. It&#8217;s a resolute final message of not needing to hit rock bottom before trying to change is firm, even comforting.<\/p>\n<p>Through jagged execution and a surprisingly complex and emotional narrative,\u00a0<strong>Militarie Gun<\/strong> have provided a record with depth. The urgent hooks that elevated <em>&#8216;Life Under The Gun&#8217;<\/em> have neatly diluted to give way to a sonic arsenal of maximalist production. In turn, it allows highlights such as &#8216;<em>Maybe I\u2019ll Burn My Life Down&#8217;<\/em> and <em>&#8216;<\/em><em>B A D I D E A&#8217;<\/em> <em>\u00a0<\/em>to become dense, riveting earworms. While the bombastic melodies continue to be favourable, lyrically, Ian Shelton&#8217;s vulnerability becomes their greatest strength, making <em>&#8216;God Save The Gun&#8217;<\/em> a necessary, if challenging, evolution.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;God Save The Gun&#8217;<\/em> by <strong>Militarie Gun<\/strong> is released on October 17th through\u00a0<strong>Loma Vista<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Find <strong>Militarie Gun<\/strong> on: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MilitarieGun\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/militariegun\">X (Formerly Twitter)<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/militariegun\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@militarieg__\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TikTok<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/4us4NMG5wuqdUZvthZrj0Q?si=I71gILvqQzeH9YyGLPvE0g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/gb\/artist\/militarie-gun\/1529039426\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Music<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/militariegun.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On their follow-up to &#8216;Life Under The Gun&#8217;, Militarie Gun deliver a darker, more vulnerable record about self-destruction and survival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[17562],"class_list":["post-100528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-militarie-gun"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Militarie Gun - God Save The Gun - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Militarie Gun&#039;s &#039;God Save The Gun&#039; 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