Gunfire 76 - Casualties and Tragedies
by Peter Allison
published: 8 / 11 / 2009
Label:
Derco Entertainment
Format: CD
intro
Unimpressive glam rock on first album from Gunfire 76, the new project of former Murder Dolls front man Wednesday 13
'Casualties and Tragedies' is the debut release for Wednesday 13’s new band/side project, which has been co-written with Todd Youth, the lead singer of Chelsea Smiles, under the moniker of Gunfire 76. I was genuinely intrigued to hear what this pairing had to offer as I have always enjoyed Wednesday 13’s unique style, and I was very impressed with the Chelsea Smiles when they supported Wednesday 13’s last tour. Wednesday 13 has in the past commented that he does not want to be “just the guy who sings about graveyards and zombies every five seconds”, and I can appreciate that sentiment. Wednesday 13, however, is in somewhat of a Catch-22, for a lot of his appeal comes from the grim subject matter in his music being being sung in such an unapologetically enthusiastic manner that you cannot help but be carried along by it. When Wednesday 13 removes this aspect of his music, the result becomes generically palatable. Thus it seems that in the name of change, Wednesday 13 has sacrificed his unique musical strength in order to create a new sound. Whilst the resulting album is in no way bad per se, it loses the vital spark which is the reason why I enthuse about Wednesday 13. The CD is not exactly bad; but it is just not as good as he is capable of producing. Whilst it cannot be denied that the album has a significantly rawer and stronger glam rock influence than some fans of Wednesday 13 may appreciate, I found the overall result to be generic; and whilst it is nonetheless very well performed, it is not exceptionally so. With the skills that Wednesday 13 has proven in the past he possesses, I found this to be the most disappointing aspect. Some elements of the album do distinguish from the mediocrity. 'Nothing All I Need' is a very good song, as were the tracks 'One More Reason to Hate You', 'Tell You Like It Is', and 'What Did You Expect?'. But these were too little to make a difference, and merely impressed upon me how good it could have been. Overall this is an unimpressive album, Normally, an album by Wednesday 13 usually jumps up and grabs me, while this merely piqued my interest and left me disappointed.
Track Listing:-
1 Let's Kill The Hero2 Casualties And Tragedies
3 Nothings All I Need
4 Los Angel-less
5 Rocket To Nowhere
6 Something For The Suffering
7 One More Reason To Hate You
8 Tell You Like It Is
9 What Did You Expect
10 Back To The Gutter
11 Get Me Through The Night
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
Chris Hludzik - Vinyl Stories
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Banter - Heroes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
related articles |
|
Wednesday 13: Live Review (2015 |
|
| Nigel Carr enjoys a night of outstanding showmanship from American horror punk act Wednesday 13 at the Club Academy in Manchester |
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart