Photo by Heather Hall.
Many thanks to Grayson Haver Currin of Pitchfork for this kind review of Gun Outfit‘s “Gotta Wanna,” the lead track on their forthcoming record Dream All Over, which you can preorder here:
$9.00 – $30.00
Other ways to purchase this release: iTunes | Amazon | Bandcamp
When the amplifier glow and cymbal wash fade into silence at the end of “Gotta Wanna”, the introductory gem of Gun Outfit‘s Dream All Over, it’s hard not to feel cheated, maybe duped. For the past three minutes, Dylan Sharp and then Carrie Keith have sung slowly and calmly about the fallacious pressure of time, the human necessity of open space, and the unnecessary restrictions of clothes. Supported by two tessellating guitars and a rhythm section that seems stuck in an infinite, italicized shuffle, it’s a classic get-free anthem, sourced from the great, open American tradition that birthed the Grateful Dead and, more recently, Brightblack Morning Light or even Kurt Vile. “I wanna squirm around/ I’m a wild primate,” sings Sharp, his voice cresting at the end of that line, as though a smile has suddenly crossed his lips.
That’s the at-large feeling of this hymn for liberation, too, a song so simple but subtle you want to get lost inside of it, to turn it up on a road trip that lasts for weeks. Maybe they’ll let it linger on stage, so you can grab a bootleg. Or you can just build a one-song playlist loaded only with “Gotta Wanna”, and let it cycle forever as summer slowly relents to fall.
– Grayson Currin Haver, Pitchfork
Also, nice to see Ben Ratliff of The New York Times mention the band in his recent piece on the Berserktown festival, which they played:
A tradition-warping band. Draws strangely close to unpuzzling mellow rock while still remaining puzzling.
– Ben Ratliff, New York Times
Puzzling!
Even more exciting is to read his kind words about Dream All Over in the Pop and Jazz Listings and Albums for the Fall Season:
This band has a punk aesthetic deep at the center and, especially now, slow and drifting, double-guitar desert-rock psychedelia at the surface. “Dream All Over” is the latest installment in the output of a band that’s remained open-ended, slow and steady.
– Ben Ratliff, New York Times
Thanks for listening, Ben!