Militarie Gun played The Sinclair – 2/16
L.A. crew Militarie Gun headlined a sold-out rager in Cambridge with support from Pool Kids, Spiritual Cramp and Spaced.
__________
The strain of rock that Militarie Gun make – catchy, driving songs delivered with a hardcore band’s attitude – is undeniably having a moment right now. The Gun and contemporaries like High Vis, Dazy, Angel Du$t and Fiddlehead are prodding at the intersection of melodic punk, power-pop, emo and post-hardcore to arrive at a sound that winds hooks and catharsis together and can get a room moving with a single emphatic “ooh-ooh.”
That’s precisely how it went down in Harvard Square a couple Fridays ago, when the band brought their tour in support of last year’s Life Under the Gun to town for a packed-out show. Their hour-ish set was a nonstop burst of energy both on and off stage, which sent a constant stream of stagedivers afloat. MG hit all the highlights from their debut record and the preceding EPs, played their collaborative jam with Dazy, “Pressure Cooker,” and even threw in a left-field cover of Blur’s “Song 2” that actually slotted into the set quite naturally. Led by vocalist Ian Shelton (also of the considerably heavier powerviolence project Regional Justice Center), the band commanded a 500-cap room with ease, proving they ought to have no trouble with the inevitably bigger ones that await.
Cause for additional excitement was the evening’s stacked and diverse supporting cast, including the math-y emo stylings of Florida’s Pool Kids, a dose of straight-up hardcore from Buffalo’s Spaced, and a show-stealing spot from San Francisco’s Spiritual Cramp. The five-piece’s stylish, irreverent and earworm-y retro-punk is always a can’t miss.
Check out photos from all four bands below.