Inventive duo VUKOVI wage inner wars on their action-packed fourth album
When VUKOVI released their debut album in 2017, their sound was as spritely as its neon-coloured cover art, establishing them as a band that mixed heaviness with pep in a way unique to them. It’s a sound that bled into follow-up Fall Better too, yet when NULA arrived in 2022, they shifted gear into something heavier and murkier. Now, on MY GOD HAS GOT A GUN, their ferocity is even more prevalent, and it's glorious.
MGHGAG feels akin to an action film score at points, and is nothing short of bold and busy. Where structure has allowed for experiment, the Scottish alt. duo have happily clasped the opportunity, playing around with charismatic drops and witty riffs. Opening with This Is My Life And My Trauma, taunting vocals repeat its title, opening up a realm that feels intense in both its emotions and its sound.
The title-track is strong in this regard, too, personifying mental illness as a relentless ruler who keeps one foot on the neck of those below it. ‘My God has got a gun, and he works me to the bone / Oh yes, this is what depression looks like’, Janine Shilstone sings. Vulnerability peaks out on Cowboy however, as she sings of moving on yet still feeling vulnerable. Led by reverb drenched guitar in its verses and glimmers of brass instruments and strings, here we get to know that VUKOVI are not about being heavy for the sake of it.
MY GOD HAS GOT A GUN ties parts of VUKOVI’s older soundscapes in with the new, and is continued proof that they are a band who have never feared evolution and change. Every musical element works as a cog in part of a wider mechanism, with each feeling purposeful and worthy of the space it occupies.
With no compromise at any point, it’s a record that is intentionally chock full of deliciously daring tracks to gorge upon.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Royal Blood, Bring Me The Horizon, YONAKA
MY GOD HAS GOT A GUN is released on January 24 via SharpTone
