Militarie Gun - God Save The Gun Review

A bruising yet cathartic step forward, God Save The Gun turns Militarie Gun’s chaos and self-doubt into something triumphant, melodic, and unmistakably human.

It can be said that big ideas need big songs. No truer words have been spoken when it comes to Militarie Gun. While it's aggro-pop energy can be seen as combative, at its heart, lives and breathes a real side of vulnerability that is devastatingly powerful.

A childhood defined by addiction, frontman Ian Shelton was never one to shy away from personal trauma being a catalyst for expressiveness. Since their tenure in Los Angeles in 2020, the hardcore band sprung out of the basement show with their wealth of EPs and haven't abandoned their energy once. The bands' debut album in 2023 - a highly acclaimed record befitting for any talent - Life Under the Gun gave view to Shelton playing witness to a lifecycle of hurt amongst loved ones. A debut never bereft of anything but an emotional outpour, it gave direction and purpose that neither Shelton or his fellow bandmates - guitarists William Acuña and Kevin Kiley, bassist Waylon Trim, and drummer David Stalswort - could have ever imagined.

Now, two years in from extensive touring cycles and consistent writing, Militarie's Gun new album pushes off the gas as if we never took a moment out. Jettisoned off the debut's foundations, the bands' sophomore of God Save The Sun confides, confesses and collides with the hardest critic to life - yourself. While it teeters into a more melodic indie-punk stance, the cut-throat brutalism and heartfelt honesty forever remain as they plough us headfirst with one of the most exciting records of the year.

At its base, God Save the Gun is a document of being at your worst - despite feeling like you should be at your absolute best. Like a pendulum, the record swings through Shelton's turbulent narrative of self-belief and external validation, as we weave through the hyper songwriting swamped with sorrow lyrical craftwork - almost as if we're witnessing a play-by-play into the mind of Shelton. “I was trying to make an album with so much chaos in my life and in my head,” Shelton says.“A break-up, crazy touring, family trouble from the past, family trouble from now... It’s hard for me not to just lean into the absurdity of it all sometimes, like if you’re not laughing you’re crying.”

‘B A D I D E A’ is the start of this chapter, a sonically daring swing of brash noise and a deliciously strong hook behind it. From then on, the record surges on with little room for breath, for fear of listening to the answers from the questions asked. ‘Fill Me with Paint’ and ‘Throw Me Away’ run rampant with defiance - despite Shelton bellowing out feelings of paranoia. ‘God Owes Me Money’ meanwhile, is nothing like we've heard. A synth-inflected working out of Shelton redefining his pain through the powers that be, it sees a band growing with their pain. The jackknife of a beautiful ballad wedged in here is one of dubiety - but perhaps make the most sense for its context. Another moment from a band unafraid to change the albums' pacing, it's a beautiful break away from the havoc.

For one fleeting moment, it seemed that Shelton saw sense before we're thrown into the fast ‘Maybe I'll Burn My Life Down’, it's blown-out drums and distorted guitars crashing us back down to Earth. The bittersweet-pop curiosities of ‘Laugh At Me’ is a sonic dare of self-deprecative destruction while we see the record take its darkest path. Equipped with a David Chloe soundbite, the agony of ‘I Won't Murder Your Friend’ is a song in its aim to de-glorify suicide and reminds us at those many lives you affect - not just your own.

With the records' heaviest strain departing, God Saves the Gun saves itself on the precipice with Shelton finding hope amongst it all. The final curtain call of the record sees Militarie Gun come into their own now: melodically enchanting anthems of poignant talk ‘Thought You Were Waving’ and the hurling title track finale embraces letting go of the past - before the present catches up.

The album's cover depicts Shelton as a cult leader looking up to the heavens, but the irony is not lost on us: a vocalist selling salvation when it is he who is in most need. A fitting visual for such a compelling confession. 

Massive in both sonic scope and lyrical depth, God Save The Gun rises above its predecessor to deliver a defiant larger-than-life rock album from a band on the precipice of true self-discovery.