We all knew a band like Shotgun Johnny when we were at school; they’d spend every lunch time in a cramped and incredibly poorly resourced music room whacking out Green Day covers with an occasional assortment of friends/girlfriends/associated hangers-on for company. The problem these guys have is that they cannot escape that amateurish sound which follows their every move.
First off I’ll start with what’s good: the guitar riffs. Track 6 has something catchy going on and, when it stays in time, could form a basis for this band’s niche of rock meets punk. Again, track 7 starts off strongly with some decent guitar work but memories of that are quickly erased by the (consistently awful) vocals. You can get away with a lot in the vocals department of punk if you have a good sense of rhythm, especially if you quicken things up, but vocalist Luke Woodward just doesn’t have it going on. It’s out of tune and boring. Drumming is another point of contention. It’s very basic and frequently out of time.
If Shotgun Johnny are to become anything other than Battle Of The Bands fare, then there’s a lot of work to be done here
www.shotgunjohnny.co.uk
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