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😄 the burning pubcrawlers / gunpowder review

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but first, the news

yes that’s right, news time! a short selection of links to all things going on in the music biz:

• florence welsh in a hole?

• taylor swift in a comeback?

• but more importantly, brian eno, damon alburn and more ina charity concert for gaza

more i’ve been listening to

fanclbuwallet / cotton mouth

mostly here for the vibey lil piano riff rolling around how cute

snafu / why as soon as we become close we have to say goodbye

what if the lead singer in your band was in fact the drum kit, and what if there were two of them

ethel cain / nettles

boy it sure do be crying season round these parts yessiree

genre: folk / metal
release date: 08/10/25
runtime: 4:57
video: no :(

contents

• 😄 the burning pubcrawlers / gunpowder review

• but first, the news

• more i’ve been listening to

  • snafu / why as soon as we become close we have to …

  • ethel cain / nettles

    • what i like

    • what i don't like

    • my drunk opinion

    • for fans of

    • should you listen to more

• next edition out next tuesday!

i have such a soft spot for bands like this. so when i was listening my way through all of the sog submissions sent in by subscribers like you i may have, perhaps, done a little jig in my room. perhaps. there is, as far as i’m aware, no video evidence of this, but if there was, well it may have even seen me have a wee grin on my face and a good time be had. fortunately no such evidence exists, so you’ll just have to imagine it. to help, i’ve prepared some resources for you, namely i’m going to tell you the name of this song, it’s called gunpowder, and the name of this artist, they’re called the burning pubcrawlers, and boy do they have a fun old time in their track, which we’re featuring this week. take a wee listen, do a wee jog, then sit down and pay attention.

let it never be said that a single song review is a hostile place for long and fun violin solo’s. in fact, we here at this newsletter, not that there is a we, it’s me, and i say, more violin solo’s. this one in particular, or three rather, are absolutely great fun! what’s more they’re thematic and don’t come out of left field. instead they are set up and delivered with the kind of respect such a revered instrument deserves, most notably with the pounding heavy drums rushing their way through the background of this track. and boy do those drums give it stacks. from the first few bars this song is absolutely hammering away at you, particularly with a few moments of some light hearted hat pedal reminding you that for all the grit and girth in the guitar work, this is a fun party tune. also big shout out to gang vocals, an often overused element in songs like this, here i think they strike a strong balance. i think live this song would absolutely rip.

i will say it, because i feel a lil obligation to, and that is i don’t feel like the vocal performance in this song lands it’s best foot forward. now i want to be real crystal when i say this, because i think the performance of the vocals are spot on, the tone and timbre and the energy are really solid and against the aggressive backdrop it works, but i feel like the writing underpinning all of that is a bit misguided. at times, it feels like it’s reaching for a real melodic bent when it doesn’t need to, and at times vocals laying out key beats of the track are done so flat and without flair you skate right past them in a moment. one to ponder. tho on the other hand they absolutely belt it out just before one of the violin solo’s and it rips so, who’s right there.

might learn the violin

was like hmm what artsits are like this, other than flogging molly. and from there it was simply, game over, because i then spent like an hour listening to flogging molly and forgot to come back here. no complaints here it was banging. bet they get that a lot though.

as with several of the songs submitted, this is a debut, so who can say. what i can say for certain however, is i think seeing these dudes live would absolutely rip. so if you’re near them at any time, go do that, i certainly will.

or better yet, reply to this email! what did you think of this song? have you been listening to anything good lately? any gems i’ve missed?

next edition out next tuesday!