Hailing from South Carolina American Gun graces us with their third full length album: Devil Showed Me His Hand and they seem like a kid with ADHD the way this album screams through different sounds and feelings. From radio-friendly pop like “Girl In Texas” into rockers like “My Friends” with detours into bluesy roots like “How Not To Fall In Love” and they even let their punk hang out a little bit on “The Underground” and to top it all off they do it all very well. Devil Showed Me His Hand seems scattered at first listen but on the second and third times, and trust me you’ll spin it more than that, around it becomes obvious that this is a coherent album. It moves like a Saturday night out with all of the ups and downs that us mortals tend to have when perusing the dirty streets. Whether it’s cheep beer and hell raising or drinking your baby goodbye there is a tune on this album for you. You can bet there is something on this one for you and for your friends. So grab your poison of choice, give your better half your keys, and queue this one up. It’s not Saturday yet but it’s worth a drink or six while you listen. American Gun won’t let you down with this release even if they are letting the whole state of Texas down this tour.

Here’s a little sample of Devil Showed Me His Hand to listen to while you go buy the whole thing:
American Gun – Thirteen Women
American Gun – My Friends
American Gun – The Underground

Linkage
American Gun – Official Site
American Gun – Myspace

A few months back I wrote about Columbia, South Carolina’s American Gun’s 2006 debut album, Dark Southern Hearts. At the time, I lamented the fact that I was getting to the American Gun party so late in the game. The band took pity on me and mailed me an advance copy of their now-released follow-up album, The Means and the Machine. This time around, instead of lamenting my tardiness to the American Gun bandwagon, I am sitting here feeling like I should apologize for being so late on writing this entry. The album has been on my iphone for a month now and I’ve been selfish. See, I put stuff I need to listen to for ninebullets on the iPhone, and once I’ve listened and either written something about the album or decided that I don’t wanna write about it, I delete it from the phone and put on another album. However, I’ve been enjoying the cd so much I was trying to delay the inevitable deletion from my phone.

The first time I mentioned these fellas, I compared them to Lucero. This time, the impression is reinforced by an inspired cover of Lucero’s “All the Same to Me”. As I also mentioned before about the last effort, this album features the dueling songwriting of Donald Merckle and Todd Mathis, one being dark and moody, while the other keeps things a bit more upbeat and foot-stomping. This time around, however, they seem to have found a little more common ground, which makes the album feel more cohesive. Another great addition to this album was bringing in the production talent of Chris Stamey (The DBs, Whiskeytown, Caitlin Cary, Alejandro Escovedo, Yo La Tengo, Tift Merritt) and the pedal-steel work of Flying Burrito Brothers picker Al Perkins. Even though there is no track on this album as awesome as “Someone to Blame” from the debut, I must say that, as a whole, this album does plenty to propel the band forward and earn new fans while doing nothing to alienate old fans. So, with great sadness, I will listen to their take of “Moonshiner” one last time, press the publish button, and remove it from the iPhone…but not before I add it to my iPod’s Essential Listening playlist.

American Gun – Drunk Girls
American Gun – This Old Town
American Gun – Jesus Gave Us Rock And Roll

American Gun – Someone to Blame (from debut)

American Gun’s Official Site, American Gun on myspace, Buy The Means and the Machine

American Gun. Dark Southern Hearts. Both phrases conjure up images of heads of long, died-black hair, hunched over guitars banging out metal riffs. The truth is much more Lucero than Leviathan. They released their debut full-length album, Dark Southern Hearts, back in September of 2006, and they are currently in the studio recording their follow-up, The Means and the Machine, which is scheduled for an early-2008 release. I was recently handed a burned copy of Dark Southern Hearts by a drinking buddy whose name I only remember when I am drunk. He told me to stick it in my pocket and listen to it later, I’d probably wanna mention it “on that online music paper thing you do”. He was right.

Columbia, South Carolina’s American Gun features a pair of songwriters, Donald Merckle and Todd Mathis. They describe themselves as dueling songwriters, claiming Mathis’ songs bring in new fans, while Merckle’s songs keep them there. Since my cd is a burned copy, I have no idea who is writing or singing what. However, they’re sometimes rocking in the order two shots in a row, and sometimes cutting to the heart of the manner as directly as possible. So I can say that there are two moods to these guys that intermingle wonderfully. My only regret is getting to the party so late….thanks…ummm…errr…drinking buddy whose name I only remember when I am drunk…..Next release is on me.

American Gun – Someone to Blame
American Gun – Tears
American Gun – Sound of Blue

American Gun’s Official Site, American Gun on myspace, Buy Dark Southern Hearts