Spirit Gun
The Antonym
Here’s a kick-ass punk band from Norfolk, VA that’s been on the scene since 2017, Sprit Gun. Band members Peter Overstreet (guitar & vocals) Oren Lev (drums) and Anthony Burgess (bass) released their first EP in 2020, and released their second EP this month called “The Antonym,” here’s our review of the title track.
Track starts with an ominous tone around C#2 before a killer toned bass riff kicks off the jam at around 182 BPM with the drums in hot pursuit. It’s a loose feel - the way punk should be. Vocals quickly come in to set the Saturday night scene before the guitars come out and box your ears. It’s a quick verse, and that’s cool - it keeps us guessing. What sounds like a chorus, is actually a brief pre-chorus with a double-kick to bring up the intensity before the real chorus hits. With the chorus, you get more trademark vibes - think early AC/DC with their shout choruses, or the Dead Kennedys with the way they helped pioneer floating vocals over the head in this genre.
After the chorus there’s an intense interlude that sets up the “ghost town” of the second verse. This interlude is classic punk in its riff, vibe and performance. This is full on trash the club material. A brief verse takes us right back to trashing the club again with a pre-chorus, interlude, and chorus and the double-kick outro. I love the down & dirty guitar tones, and the way the tempo slightly oscillates around the track. Personally, I’m not a fan of punk played to a metronome. Props to the bass player and the lines he throws in to add some depth to the vocal lines. Also love the guitar solo and the unstructured chaos.
The whole track fits perfectly in the vibe of the Black Cat in DC, Clockwork in NYC, or The End in Nashville (yes, Nashville). One of the nice surprises about it is its long-form structure. We all love the Ramones for their ability to get in and out quickly, but it’s also cool to let the song breathe a bit and have it be more complex. They accomplish that here with no less than 5 instrumental sections (not including the solo) and changing up the lyrics in the final chorus. Finally, have to say I dig the key change at the end - it’s a nice bump up in energy.
This is not the 3:00 perfect Pop song, or Nashville’s latest version of a country hit. It’s not a “free-form jazz exploration in front of a festival type crowd, “ nor is it something as modal and beautiful as we just wrote about with yesterday’s blog (see Justin Tibbs). This is in-your-face, beautiful, thrashy, smelly, van-stink punk. It’s beautiful in its own right. The energy is spot on. The tones are grimey. The mix is solid. Crank it up, and scroll down to catch the rest of the new EP. Nice work, fellas!
Check it out now!