New music review with Militarie Gun and Brògeal

Our weekly fix of the best new music as Julia Mason (aka The Decibel Decoder) brings us her review of new singles from Militarie Gun My Friends Are Having A Hard Time and Brògeal Girl From NYC

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Artist: Militarie Gun

Track: My Friends Are Having A Hard Time

Credit Daniel Topete

Los Angeles' Militarie Gun kick off 2024 with the release of a new EP Life Under The Sun out now via Loma Vista Recordings. 

It strips back a selection of songs from their debut album Life Under The Gun. Along with the previously shared singles Never Fucked Up Twice featuring Bully's Alicia Bognanno and Very High (Under The Sun), the EP includes the new single My Friends Are Having A Hard Time featuring Manchester Orchestra.

Fans of Militarie Gun will perhaps be surprised by the shift in atmosphere on the new track.  It’s much calmer and contemplative in comparison to their usual manic energy-fuelled music.  Open and honest, it is an emotional listen and shows the flip side to Militarie Gun’s usual soundscape. Life Under The Sun also features Mannequin Pussy on a new version of Will Logic and a cover of the NOFX track Whoops I OD'd.

The EP arrives as Militarie Gun prepares to kick off their headline North American tour next week that will see the band play 31 dates across the country. Support for the North American tour will be Pool Kids and Spiritual Cramp with Death Lens, Spaced, and Roman Candle on select dates. Militarie Gun will also be performing at Coachella, LDB Fest, Welcome To Rockville, Sonic Temple Festival, Primavera Sound, and Bonnaroo this year.

European dates 2024

5/29 - Paris, FR @ Petit Bain

5/30 - Lyon, FR @ Warmaudio

6/02 - Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound

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Artist: Brògeal

Track: Girl From NYC

Credit Sam McGill

Brògeal formed in Falkirk out of the ashes of high school bands, coming together over their love of Scottish and Irish folk music, punk and garage rock. The 5-piece added banjo and mandolin to electric guitars to produce a thrilling combination of indie, rock and folk. They have now released their new single Girl From NYC.

The energy, vocals and lyrical content are a delight. This is raucous communal music, just through your arms around your mates and dance. There is a joy and fun in the camaraderie, and I can confirm from experience that live this is music to utterly lose yourself in, and you’ll be left with a big daft grin on your face.

On the track frontman Daniel Harkins says: “Girl From NYC was written early 2023 in my hometown of Falkirk. Like many towns in the UK, Falkirk has experienced a steady decline into ghost town status. What once was a bustling town centre could now resemble a desolate wasteland.

"I was inclined to write the song after two pubs I held dear to my heart shut down one after the other (“cause the Star shut down and Rialto’s gone and my life feels upside down”).  It is written as a classic indie-rock song with a driving chord progression and a killer hook that you’re guaranteed to be singing by the end of the song.

"Loaded with banjo, jangly bazouki solos and mouthfuls of satirical, tongue in cheek lyrics about a professional woman from New York somehow ending up in Falkirk, running for council and saving the town. The song is a reflection of how young Scots feel about the mundanity of small-town life, written in a cheeky, light-hearted manner.”

Brògeal are so invested in what they do, starting their own club night in Falkirk which expanded with with bands from all over Scotland coming to play. Eventually they moved to Glasgow and have a now famous residency at McChuills Vicar Street Sessions.

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