"There are also interludes and phone recordings littered throughout that posit God Save the Gun as the most indulgent of pursuits: the concept album. Shelton has always used rehabilitation and redemption as primary muses, considering whether the carceral or 12-step versions can truly offer any lasting change. In the past, he's done so as an invested outsider, writing about his brother's incarceration and his experience as an auditor at AA meetings."
"Or, to quote the namesake of the brief "Isaac's Song," Shelton is the dark center of the universe. He screams "just throw me away!" on "Fill Me With Paint," and the very next song is called "Throw Me Away." The repetition is likely intentional, an honest accounting of the persistent self-pity, self-deprecation, and self-flagellation that flourishes between the pink cloud of early recovery and the dark abyss of addiction."
Militarie Gun incorporates pre-psychedelic Beatles harmonies, acoustic guitars, and synth strings alongside hardcore elements, inviting comparisons to mainstream pop touchstones. The album uses interludes and phone recordings to position itself as a concept album centered on rehabilitation, redemption, and personal relapse. Shelton shifts from writing as an outsider about incarceration and AA auditing to making himself the primary subject, recounting late-onset drinking and its consequences. Repetitive lyrical motifs and consecutive song titles emphasize persistent self-pity, self-deprecation, and self-flagellation during early recovery and relapse. Tension between Mellotron textures and mosh-ready parts dissolves into a consistent, hungover shimmer.
Read at Pitchfork
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