Message from the Artist:
Hi. Like all new bands we would love a review. This was our first release and the only single lead vocalist Mikey Dream was allowed to play guitar on as it needed a “grunge-not a good guitarist feel!”
The band is made up of Mikey ‘Dream’ Clorley-Jones (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Ian Edwards (lead/rhythm guitar), and Dominic Gallagher (bass) and recent additions , Joe Evans (Guitar) and Bijan Tayari (drums). Mikey and Ian, longtime collaborators from their previous band LEON, have reignited their songwriting spark along with Dominic,, Joe and Bij who completes the new line-up.
Gung Ho’s sound blends classic and hard rock with a sharp, no-nonsense philosophy: “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus.” You’ll hear echoes of AC/DC, Jet, Seether, and Shinedown, with hints of grunge and post-grunge adding a gritty, dynamic edge. *Don’t it make you cry” has been played on local and internet rock radio stations and is a band favourite at gigs.
GUNG HO | Don’t it make you cry
reviewed by DEE
Crashing your world. Playing with passion. Losing it on the reverb but with enough sheer energy to sop it all up. All levels to 999. That’s how ‘GUNG HO, Don’t it Make You Cry?’ started out between my head-phoned ears, (recommended). From there it’s a nicely syncopated nod to the best 90s sounds you know you love to hear.
The song reaches past its limited production with up front vocals that are pitch on without the usual tearing effect of recorded artifacts often found with some MP3s at the low and high ends. The guitars soar and the drums slash and burn to faint echoes of Creed and Social Distortion. As the chorus build becomes apparent, second guitar parts turn to face the listener –ears on! To get that hard peak and clang some nice convergences between melody and rhythm were achieved. The good resonances appeared as needed and sat down for a smoke during the working man parts. Only where the sounds collided and created a super crush of compression did the syncopation drop, just a bit, and the accents broke away from the more established hard rock pattern (which is a good thing sometimes, imo). The next stanza realigns each of the song components with a juicy lead into the money shot phrase, “Don’t it Make You Cry?”: a tag to the universally accepted aggravation of the ‘people’ with the status quo. But we don’t cry. We just get stronger. The lyrics are timely, clear, hint at a message, convey some serious emotions with an authentic vocal sneer and generally stick to the point. This band delivers the baked goods.
The structure of the song bounces naturally in a cradle of scratchy sonic blankets that force the listener’s attention. The song is over pretty quick at 3:36 and you might find yourself asking, “What was that? That song bit me.” I was interested from the intro but I can see how some listeners may want to jump right to the chorus a little quicker, especially after the first listen. This song employs many of the tried and true methods for wringing out as much musical power from a composition as possible: big speaker/big room sounds, cool effects and simple track mixes, and of course someone’s girlfriend’s considered opinion…
The effectiveness of some good jams, practices and a common will to work together and stick-to-it is how you get this level of tightness and straightforward song development. No chances were damaged during this performance. All chances returned without injury. GUNG HO put it out there. They do it with passion and power, poetry and punk sensibility. If you want to get your HO on, give this song a listen. We look forward to what this band comes up with for the next record.
Tally ho!
Musical style: indie, rock, 90s, lyrical, classic rock, lo-fi, garage rock
Source: Website form.
Website: http://gung-ho.co.uk
Song Writer: Mike Clorley-Jones, Ian Edwards
