Life Under The Gun (LP)

Militarie Gun are a truly uncategorizable band. Led by vocalist Ian Shelton, the band's debut full-length, Life Under The Gun, is forged by a lifetime of experience and effort, offering 12 tracks that manage to blend the unbridled aggression of hardcore with massive hooks and personality to spare. Throughout the record, Militarie Gun demonstrates their mastery of melody and grit as Shelton interrogates a lifetime of interpersonal relationships through a distinctly blunt, empathetic, and self-aware lens.

Ultra-catchy tracks like "Do It Faster" and "Very High" look at his challenging upbringing with adult perspective, while "Never Fucked Up Once" demonstrates a willingness to approach the third rail, juxtaposing some of Life Under The Gun's most darkly comedic lyrics with its most overt pop-rock sensibilities.

The album closes with its anthemic title track where Shelton sings the final refrain "a life of pursuit" ends up pursuing you like an urgent reminder to himself: move forward or get swallowed up - your past might shape you, but it doesn't have to define you. The song's final lone chord rings out like a question, a fittingly hopeful-yet-ambiguous ending for the debut album from a band that's already come so far and evolved so much - but whose story has only just begun.