Melodic hardcore outfit, Militarie Gun, fire on all cylinders throughout the entirety of God Save The Gun.

Release Date:  17th October 2025

Label: Loma Vista Recordings

Formats: CD / LP / Digital

MILITARIE GUN

Militarie Gun are back for their second full-length release. The band’s debut album Life Under The Gun was lauded by die-hard fans and critics alike for its snappy punk rock energy, as well as its emotional, cathartic resonance. God Save The Gun sees the band expanding and pushing their sound to uncharted territories. The end result is one of the most exciting and damn right enjoyable guitar albums I’ve had the pleasure to hear all year.

Opening the record is Pt. II, an atmospheric tone-setter. Frontman Ian Shelton details how “things have not been great” before getting interrupted and launches into lead single B A D I D E A. The song is one of the bands catchiest to date with its rumbling bass, pummelling drums and infectious vocal refrains. The scratchy guitar riffs that enter in the pre chorus helps set up the triumphant chorus that follows masterfully. The song wastes absolutely no time. It’s a track that infests itself into the listeners brain even after the first listen. The guitar work in particular sticks out as being able to cut right through the chaos. What a way to kick off the album.

PURE URGENCY

Continuing the energy is the groovy as hell, Fill Me With Paint. The entire song is a wonderful example of Militarie Gun’s pure urgency. The song moves at such a brisk pace with guitar work that exists for just a few bars before being pulled away. The chorus in the track begs to be screamed back to the band in a live space, something I am sure will happen many times when they tour the record.

Second single Throw Me Away follows, keeping the quality of the album high. The song feels familiar yet still exciting and fresh with its warm melodies and tongue in cheek lyrics. The change in rhythm from verse to chorus is a nice touch, letting the latter hit even harder. It is pure feel-good fun throughout. An absolute ear worm.

DYNAMIC SONIC RANGE

As the album continues, we reach Daydream. A softer moment on the album, it really lets the band’s dynamic sonic range shine. The use of the beautiful soaring strings alongside the complimentary drum groove, washes the track wonderfully. It’s an immersive and impressive moment on the album, sequenced extremely well in the track list. However, it’s not long until we are back to the bangers.

The two-track punch that follows of Maybe I’ll Burn My Life Down and Kick are the band simply doing what they do best. The first track harnesses a killer bassline, backed with drums that sound like they are being played with baseball bats rather than sticks. It’s an angular and ferocious punk rock banger. In addition to this, the repeated piano reminiscent of The Stooges adds to the almost claustrophobic and intense atmosphere created.

Kick on the other hand sounds like it would’ve worked perfectly as a lead single. The song’s soaring instrumental hits straight out the gate. The track fills up so much space and sounds truly massive. The excellent, catchy bridge towards the back of the song is also fantastic, before going back into the mighty chorus once more. A true standout on already strong album.

EMOTIONAL CENTREPIECE

Toward the final few songs on the record we reach the album’s emotional centrepiece, I Won’t Murder Your Friend. It’s a moving moment that hits the listener hard. It feels like what the album has been leading up to. It’s a song that touches on the topic of suicide and its impact on everyone involved in such an open and strong way. As the song reaches its final moments, the band go into an extremely powerful instrumental with blistering and moody guitars. With repeated listens, the track only resonated more and more. It’s a clear example of the band’s excellent song writing.

The final song and title track of the album is a warm and fitting ending. It is addictive and poignant with possibly the strongest vocal melody on the entire record. I can’t think of a more fitting final piece of the puzzle. I love the off-kilter drum groove and driving bass that guides the listener through the album’s final moments. The last line of the album being “if you want to keep your life, you gotta let it go” is said before ending abruptly, leaving the listener to take in the absolute rollercoaster they have just embarked upon.

God Save The Gun is Militarie Gun at their most determined and dynamic to date. Every moment feels crucial and necessary to the album’s overall experience. A joy from start to finish.

Here’s B A D I D E A…

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