In the current landscape of music, there aren’t a lot of records whose arrival feels like an event anymore. Most Album cycles start with a teaser video followed by a lead single with a music video. This is then followed by single after single which are now usually accompanied by lyric video and whatever else boring stuff your label asks you to do. Before you know it a random Friday on the calendar has passed and now there’s another album out in the world to add to the pile of thousands of records that came out this year that no one remembers.

In this bleak world, we have been lucky enough to be gifted a sliver of hope in “Life Under The Gun” the debut album from Los Angeles band Militarie Gun that came out this past Friday. This album was announced this past April and it didn’t hurt that the band was already everywhere. Lead Single Do It Faster is simply one of the best rock songs of the year and it’s not even close. That’s only one reason the band was so hot by the time this record was released.

It is not private information that Hardcore music is having a moment in the mainstream thanks to the success of Turnstile. Militarie Gun’s frontman Ian Shelton has more than paid due in the hardcore with his previous bands and is finally cashing in on it! Off of the strength of All Roads Lead to the Gun 1 and 2 the band Signed to Loma Vista and is now managed by Roc Nation. Militarie Gun feels like a major label band and honestly, it’s in part what makes the release of this record feel so exciting to me. It feels big, exciting, and special!

There are not a lot of records that live up to their moment like this one! Like all of my favorite albums in the sonic vein of Militarie Gun aka 90’s alt-rock, the lead single also happens to be track number one. Starting the album off with a kick to the face is previously mentioned, Do it Faster. This is then followed by the record's other two singles. In most cases, this would lead one to think the albums front loaded but, on this album, the singles are far from my favorite songs as the albums just get better as it goes.

Clocking In at 12 songs and 27 minutes and 16 seconds the record gets straight to the point. As the song titles on the record may lead you to assume Ian’s songwriting is very direct and gets to a point in a very accessible way. Today things are either too heady or god of awfully simple and stupid. One of my favorite line on the records is on the song Never Fucked Up Once when Ian say’s “You did something you didn't want and now it's your name”. I don’t know what he’s talking about in that line but I know what it means to me when I hear it. That space is what makes good songwriting stand up above the rest. My favorite song on the album is Sway Too. It takes me somewhere I can’t describe just yet, but I do know it’s the best song on the album. Think mayonnaise on Siamese Dream but enough about what I think go play the brand new Militarie Gun album Life Under The Gun!!!!