aaamusic | On 24, Oct 2011

It’s common for bands to form as a reaction to the music they found themselves surrounded by. Hull five-piece Servants of the Gun have gone one step further and proclaim they ‘stormed the city saving all that came into their path.’ Is it just my paranoid mind, or does that seem like some sort of threat?

 

Alarm bells begin ringing when the first song is listed as Prince’s By Night. Unnecessary apostrophes have always been the concern of music critics. People in bands are too busy getting on with the day-to-day business of taking drugs, chasing groupies and storming cities. There’s an admirable vigour to this fairly straightforward rock. The Cut is better, with good use of quiet and loud sections. Revelations has a touch of Guns ‘N Roses, by way of early Manic Street Preachers in the guitars.

 

Good Good Glory has some impressive guitar pyrotechnics, plus shouty passionate vocals. The song Servants of the Gun is memorable for an instance of bad language and some scary serial killer-style lyrics, redeemed by hint of humour: ‘I want to cut her/I want to kill her/I never knew she felt the same way.’ My Way is a glam rock stomp, with squalls of guitar. Won’t Shade My Soul starts like Shed Seven, but the singing is rather more rock than Rick Witter’s.

 

Holywater Man and The Plagiarist crank up the rock, but neither are memorable. The curiously-named The Violins brings the album to a close. It has an epic quality, with lots of things going on, recalling Use You Illusion-era Guns N’ Roses. It’s not quite as indulgent as those two albums, though who knows what Servants of the Gun could achieve with a bigger budget?

 

The band cite AC/DC, Foo Fighters, Queen, Muse, Guns N’ Roses, Free, Hinder, Pearl Jam, Motley Crue and Ash among their influences. Those bands suggest a rather more colourful and engaging sound than Servants of the Gun are currently peddling.

 

The band are on a quest ‘to find our own unique style of music’. I would suggest there is some distance to go before this goal is achieved. Indeed, I would question whether this goal was truly admirable. No matter, at the moment, Servants of the Gun make engaging company. Those about to rock, particularly those in the Humberside region, I salute you and command you to check out Servants of the Gun live. Before they save you, by force if necessary.

 

Stuart Moses