Militarie Gun announce debut album and release earworm ‘Very High’
Los Angeles outfit Militarie Gun have dropped another earworm of a track, ‘Very High’, and announced their long-awaited debut album, Life Under The Gun, which arrives June 23rd via Loma Vista. A 12-track body of work, it will include their other recent single, ‘Do It Faster’.
Taken together, ‘Do It Again’ and its follow-up ‘Very High’ set a very promising precedent for Militarie Gun’s debut. Whilst we’ve had since February to soak up the snappy brilliance of the former, today, it’s all about the latter.
Another infectious piece featuring frontman Ian Shelton’s raw but hooky delivery and Nick Cogan and William Acuña’s punchy guitar work that straddles the line between indie and hardcore expertly, there’s a lot to love about the track. “Pretty big on embarrassment,” Shelton growls at the start, opening up one of his vintage lyrical performances. “I’ve been feeling pretty down / So I get very high,” he then sings in the chorus. It’s an outlook that almost everyone alternatively inclined can relate to, despite the potential irony behind the lyrics.
An instantly accessible tune, you get the feeling that the band – comprised of veterans of the scene, with Shelton of Regional Justice Centre and Cogan from the eminent Drug Church – might just be the next ones to spread the gospel of punk to the masses, à la Turnstile. The new cut even arrives with a parody of turn-of-the-millennium teen drama courtesy of Mason Mercer, playing into the current fixation on the era.
Of the new song, Shelton says: “‘Very High’ centres around the desire to escape the embarrassment of day-to-day life as much as possible. From the lyrics, to the video to the cover art of the album, it’s about struggling with something no one else sees, ‘I’ve been feeling very down, so I get very high.'”
Militarie Gun will play their London debut at The George Tavern on May 9th, which sold out moments after being announced in March. Not to worry, they will return to Europe in June and July to perform at various festivals, including Outbreak, Roskilde and 2000 Trees.
Demonstrating the type of respect they’ve received since their formation in 2020, they are to support punk luminary Walter Schreifels’ post-hardcore outfit, Rival Schools, at London’s Electric Ballroom in July. That is one not to be missed.
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