A new band on the Australian hard rock scene is Melbourne’s Shotgun Mistress, who has just released Save Me From Myself. It follows their debut No Friend Of Mine, which attracted massive attention not only in the Australian rock scene but on radio and streaming playlists everywhere. There’s a big buzz around Shotgun Mistress as a result of their explosive live shows and their recent signing to Golden Robot Records (LA Guns, Rose Tattoo, Baby Animals). Save Me From Myself captures all the energy of the band’s live shows and more, consolidating it into an intense contemporary hard rock palette, containing supersonic riffs, memorable hooks and incessant, pounding grooves. Formed in 2018, Shotgun Mistress’s latest is a taste of their greatly anticipated forthcoming album due for release late in 2020. It kicks off with a rampaging riff, which not only reveals the band’s musical expertise, a line-up that features Matt Wilcock, who appears on the list of the 100 greatest metal guitarists of all time, but the group’s attitude and pure rock aesthetic vision; both of these aspects integral to a band’s ongoing success. Their influences include Alterbridge, Velvet Revolver, Slash and Motley Crue and although Shotgun tips its hat to some of these acts, it does so with restraint; they’ve created an altogether different kind of contemporary rock sound. Alongside these manic riffs are the melodic elements of the track, with Glenn Patrick’s dynamic and compelling vocals leading the charge. This is a big rock record with heart, pulsing with a firm grip on its influences, its history but with a unique and powerful interpretive approach. Save Me From Myself will no doubt add to the band’s expanding audience at both a national and global level. In a very short space of time Shotgun Mistress has managed to prove they have the grit and goods to deliver; their live shows are notoriously unforgettable and their records reflect this: that’s perhaps the key element when one is a rock band on the verge of great things.
Vince Leigh for theaussieword.com.
