GUN – Serious Contenders
Glaswegian rockers GUN release a brand new version of their seminal single: “Word Up”.
It’s the latest track to be cut from their upcoming album: ‘The Calton Songs’ (out 14 October, via Cherry Red Records) and arrives ahead of intimate acoustic shows around the UK this August.
Originally covered by GUN in 1994, this massive track saw the band win an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Cover and featured on their Top 5 album ‘Swagger’. The song itself is, of course, a retooled version of the evergreen Cameo hit from 1986.
Reimagined and revived by GUN for the Summer of 2022, the new version of “Word Up” is a totally different beast to the one that the fans know so well, boosted by the vocal talents of Beverley Skeete & The Sisterhood [Noel Gallagher, The Chemical Brothers, Mick Jagger] and phenomenal Brass provided by The Selecter. The band are describing it as the “Word Up Summer Jam” and it has all the raw, radiant energy its title would allude to.
Taken from upcoming album, ‘The Calton Songs’, the record will be released on Cherry Red Records on 14 October 2022; available on Cherry Red-coloured vinyl, CD, cassette and digital. ‘The Calton Songs’ is a full-blooded celebration of the band’s career so far with enthusiastic and brand new acoustic reinterpretations of the songs that made their name. These classics are bolstered by recent single ‘Backstreet Brothers’, a new and fully electric track that basks in the joys of both lives and good times shared, and brings the GUN story up to date,
As Jools Gizzi says of the album:
“When the pandemic hit we realised that it was the perfect time to try and counteract the bleakness that was all around. It felt like we couldn’t write anything, or of course tour. Out of that darkness came a desire to completely rework these songs that we know the fans love, and bring a different, stripped down vibe”.
Whilst Dante Gizzi adds:
“It’s ironic that those feelings of negativity led to something so positive, a celebration of our career up to now”.
‘The Calton Songs’ takes its name from the area of Glasgow where the band grew up, and where they still write their music. These new versions of great songs are cut through with un-ironic nostalgia but this is a band with an eye on the horizon for what’s to come. ‘Taking On The World’ announced the band to a global audience in 1989 and their next album ‘Gallus’ just marked its 30th anniversary. ‘The Calton Songs’ is the latest milestone and follows-up ‘Favourite Pleasures’ from 2017 which made the top 15, making it their biggest album in almost a quarter of a century, since ‘Swagger’.
With ‘The Calton Songs’ now ready, initial work on a potential new studio album started and live dates in, GUN are truly firing once more. They remain in the Top 50 modern hard rock artists in the world according to industry data specialists, Chartmetric, with top 20 albums and singles. They have toured with The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden; this is a band with plenty to shout about. GUN in 2022 features Dante Gizzi [lead vocals], Giuliano ‘Jools’ Gizzi [guitar], Paul McManus [drums], Andy Carr [bass] and Tommy Gentry [guitar].
From Glasgow to the world was always the mentality, and their desire to entertain remains undimmed and on ‘The Calton Songs’; these ‘Backstreet Brothers’ remain serious contenders.
GUN GUN GUN GUN
GUN – ‘THE CALTON SONGS’ – OUT 14 OCTOBER, VIA CHERRY RED
LISTEN TO “WORD UP” (FEAT. THE SISTERHOOD) NOW
STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE
Around the release of ‘The Calton Songs’, the band will be hitting the road for a number of festivals and gigs. With a storming acoustic tour around Scotland planned this Summer, a series of fully fledged electric gigs will follow throughout November and December. All UK dates so far are as follows:
GUN – UK DATES
August
12 – IRVINE, Harbour Arts Centre @
13 – BLAIR ATHOLL Food In The Park @
16 – NEWCASTLE Trillians Rock Club @
18 – DUNFERMLINE PJ Molloys @
19 – STRATHHAVEN Frets @
20 – CUMBERNAULD Submarine @
September
2 – WITTON-LE-WEAR Stormin The Castle
October
29 – INVERNESS Monsterfest
November
30 – BRADFORD, Nightrain*
December
1 – LONDON, O2 Academy Islington*
2 – NUNEATON, Queens Hall*
4 – BLACKPOOL, Waterloo*
5 – BATH, Komedia*
6 – SUNDERLAND, Firestation*
7 – GALASHIELS, Mac Arts*
10 – GLASGOW Barrowland Ballroom*
11 – ABERDEEN The Lemon Tree*
@ Acoustic Tour
*Full Band
Tickets on sale here: https://www.gunofficial.co.uk/tour
