Shotgun Messiah’s last album, their second, aptly titled ‘Second Coming’ saw former bassman Tim Skold take on lead vocals to give the band a much more authoritative stamp. The album bombed in a right royal fashionb, thus landing the band back at square one. So, theygrab the easy option and throw a mini album together incorporating three Punk covers (bloody jawn) and a couple of majorly revamped tracks from ‘Second Coming’.
It’s all very well and fine but who on earth wants to hear another bloody cover of Iggy’s ‘Search And Destroy’? Admittedly it’s a spirited enough stab at the hoary old classic, but it’s nowhere near as good as EMF’s version. If you’re going to release a cover, at least do something a bit different with it. Same goes for ’53rd And 3rd’. Oh God! Not another Ramones homily. I know this is only a mini-album but why bother recording it, let alone shell out your hard earned cash for it? If it’s a stop-gap before the next full album then fine, but the point is, their last album sold zilch, so why think anyone would want to hear ’em cruising through some of their fave songs? It’s not like they’re Aerosmith or something.
At the end of the day, Shotgun Messiah remain relegated to the top of the third division in Rock. There’s nothing wrong with them, but being just ‘likeable’ isn’t enough.
Anthony Noguera
