Posted on December 2, 2009 - by John

GUN – Popkiller

Gun's new album 'Popkiller'.

I caught the newly reformed Gun at Swansea Sin City last night and my ears are still ringing. Felt bad for the boys that there was not a high turnout but that said, we really got into the swing of things. They played through a string of Gun’s finest aswell as three tracks from the new ‘Popkiller’ mini-album.

With the the likes of Skin reforming, it seems there is a real shift for the British rock bands of yesteryear, and if singer Toby Jepson is to believed, it’s all down to the internet. Following the gig, I managed to to speak with Toby and he was very insightful on the position of music in 2009, the effect of Spotify and iTunes, and what our music buying habits will be in 5 years time.

For Toby, Gun is a new chance to produce music in a climate where the artist makes the rules. The proliferation of Protools and easy access to the web means that anyone can be a musician and get their songs heard. Now combine that concept with a group of guys who have been doing it for 20 years, and you have  a level of experience that can take full advantage of these options.

And that neatly takes me onto ‘Popkiller’, Gun’s  new mini-album. Why a mini-album? Is this a test the water concept? Not according to Toby, who would rather put out a succession of mini-albums multiple times a year opposed to the big release concept that consumed the music industry of yesteryear. If fans come out to the gig having downloaded some Gun material, it suits the band just fine. Buy a ticket, and while your hear  pick up a beanie hat and that ever so tempting mini-album at only £6! And why not!

One thing’s for sure, they should shift them judging by the quality on Gun 2.0’s release. It only has six songs, but each one of them is an interesting mix of the Gun of days gone by (even with an 0141 pop sensibility) without straying too far from the distorted guitars and catchy riffs. And Toby’s wider vocal range lends the songs to produce a naturally wider range than Mark Rankin era Gun. That’s not to say there Little Angels-esque screaming vocals, but there’s definitely some new Scarborough tricks to this old Glaswegian Dog.

Standout track for me is ‘Seraphina’, which is a quick paced rocker tinged in 80’s synth pop. You can certainly hear the boys have thrown in some influences from the recent 80’s revival, but that works well and should get them heard outside of the normal rock fraternity. The riffs and choruses are here in abundance and it is very easy to have the likes of ‘Let Your Hair Down’ sprint around your head for days with it’s ‘Cars’ inspired guitar riff.

‘Popkiller’ itself is just a disgustingly catchy song, reminding me very much of early ‘Feeder’ material. If I had to say what Gun sound like, I’d probably mark Feeder out as the band to compare with (if Feeder’s recent output was up to this standard though!).

Out of the five tracks, only ‘Ripping Up Letters’ returns to type, with a slower tale of forlorn love lost in friendship, and to me this is the low point of the album, as tracks either side of it are full of energy and fizz. It’s not a bad track though, but not up to the standard of  the other four.

Overall a good effort and certainly ‘Popkiller’ makes an impact. It is a must for fans of British rock music, so if you have bought Gun before, you’ll lap it up. And on evidence of this Jepson era Gun will go far, and might well grow some new fans along the way.

You can order ‘Popkiller’ from Towsend Records, and Toby Jepson is on the road in December supporting Skin.