Although your reviewer can't admit to being hugely au fait with the 22-20s output to date, what he has heard previously suggested this youthful bunch had some kinda kinship with the bozo rock likes of The Blueskins and were very much in love with old skool guitar ways.
While not wholly dispelling this line of thinking, "Shoot Your Gun", however, is a taut, apprehensive guitar rocker, chock full of tension, class and a fine vocal performance from Martin Trimble.
There are two versions of the same tune. There's no appreciable difference, though the edit is the tidier one, undoubtedly. It's produced by Paul Weller collaborator Brendan Hayes, appropriates what appears to be the martial drum beat from The Doors' "Five To One" and also allocates space for the requisite flashy guitar and hammond organ breaks, yet sensibly reins them in and doesn't allow the Dadrock whiff to become overpowering. Indeed, Trimble's impassioned vocals even ensures the occasional Spinal Tap-esque lyric ("where'd you learn to shoot your gun so straight?") doesn't destroy the atmosphere.
|
A dramatic, wired, four-minute vignette, then. Nothing remotely new, but well-executed nonetheless.
|
