album review

Gal Gun
Critical Hit
Human Instrumentality Project Records
Vinyl Release March 7, 2021

Anyone who has been away from home for a stretch knows how homesickness feels. You can’t stop thinking about all the things you miss. There is no greater pleasure than getting a care package with all your favorite goodies. It takes all those homesickness feelings and lets you eat them. So cathartic. Here we are deep into COVID and I find myself homesick. The past year has had very little of what I love Chicago for. Theatre. Friends. Shared meals. Street Fests. Tap room tastings. Live music. God help me, even the CTA. I never thought I could live in a place and be homesick for it. Yet here we are.

You can’t get more Chicago than a band that debuted at basement DIY venue Club Soda’s 2015 NYE show. These guys are woven into the scene alongside bands like Girl K, Rookie, and Beach Bunny. They have been developing friendships and their sound for 6 years now, and Critical Hit, their second full length, shows new polish and confidence. Our dear Surfers with their fingers on the pulse of the Chicago music scene will tell you, the digital release of Gal Gun’s Critical Hit was back in December 2020. This reviewer couldn’t resist giving the album a shout out when I heard about the limited run of Smashed Plastic vinyl the band has put together. 100 numbered copies hand stuffed by vocalist/guitarist Colin Isaac Burns with goodies that will deepen your appreciation for the music and make receiving this album feel like a care package from a friend. One that wants to make sure you know they are here if you need them. The liner-note-meets-zine pieces are made by a bevy of Gal Gun friends, bringing a sense of community. It’s a fitting package for an album ruminating on themes of sadness and support.

Although this album rolls through with a mood brightening bouncing beat, closer inspection of the lyrics reveals depression and resilience. The things you say to yourself when you’re at your worst, but also the way you will get through. The extras make it clear in a multitude of ways, Gal Gun hopes this album will give you an outlet for your feelings. A safe space to cry and the energy to bounce back up and find your passion again. The cohesive sound of this album brings in flavors and influences that all make my head bob. All kinds of throwback melded together into a delightful geek rock bounce: surf, British invasion, pop punk, stadium, psych. If you tend towards air guitaring, Gal Gun has you covered with plenty of face contorting guitar riffs. Each listen brings another track to my attention, all worthy of review.

The A side of this album gets off to a killer start, three songs in a row that I can’t get enough of. Opening track, “Flavor 2” has a masterful use of air giving just enough space in the mix to make that hook really take hold. The key change at the end giving it an epic quality as both guitar and vocals wail. Gal Gun’s second track introduces heartache to the album. There are so many breakup songs on the airwaves, it’s easy to let them play in the background and not think about the true personal tragedy each of these songs represents. Like walking past signs about a lost cat plastered around the neighborhood. Do you ever stop to think about the pain that poster represents? “Lost Cat” draws a perfect parallel to the personal tragedy of a breakup. That final line, “things had better get better in my head” echoes in my heart, begging you to not just walk by, but to reach out a hand and show some empathy. That empathy rolls right into “Premium” processing pain with a chorus I can’t get enough of, “Cry. You made me cry. I’ve got this pain welling up in my chest. Well we all know I tried my best.” The endless refrain mixing and changing and sighing and exploring ways to express these lines over and over really hits home with me.

The B side of this album hits me in the head with the opening lyrics of “Ticket to Taiwan”:

Staring out my window, one hand on a drink. The other on the pain. Dirty cars and dark snow, naked trees on the brink. This winter is the same as the last. I’m still alive. I’m perfecting my obsessions. I’m spending too much time inside. I need a ticket to Taiwan.

*sigh* That is so...life right now.

Going from a track that seems to be narrating my life, to one with a title I didn’t understand, we have “Kamisama.” The song is laced with “DBZ” slang (Dragon Ball Z for those not in the know…) that drives home the geek rock feeling woven through the album. Geek culture permeates with “if you don’t get this, it isn’t for you” vibes. YET, this is my fav song on the record. It is a perfect example of how the specificity of Burns’ lyrics paint vivid images, so evocative I feel a connection, even if I don’t know what the heck “Kamisama” means. At least not without the help of Google. Sometimes the songs you don’t know the meaning of are the ones you can’t help but want to sing along to. Final shout out has to go to the last track on the album. “The National Girlfriend” slows things down for an epic ballad. One more breakup song for the ages. The trembling vocal effect on “I should’ve seen this coming,” gets my heart fluttering. Those wandering dueling guitar solos, transports me. I can almost see these friends jamming on this song, egging each other on to ever more complex heights, Vaccaro keeping the beat steady on bottom and cymbals shimmering on the top. When the music fades and the sound of the “El” takes over, my heart feels full of sadness and love for Chicago, and for the music scene that makes it feel like home. I will look forward to the day when I get to see these guys play again. Until then, this will be one of the albums that makes me feel homesick. In a good way.

-Tina Mead