Here’s the Spotify link to the playlist. You’re welcome to recreate it on any platform you choose. Just press play and read along, acting like the voice in your head is the DJ. The times listed are that of the song playing, not the full episode length. I play this with a 5-second cross-fade enabled. Have fun!

Intro

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Hello and welcome to abp’s guns episode! Love ’em or hate ’em, they’re engrained in society and have been since their early conceptual days in China over a thousand years ago. Today we’re gonna talk about everything gun-related. Gun types, ammunition, gun laws, gun collectors, and more come up during the episode. We’re also going to raise a toast to Saint Joe Strummer of The Clash toward the end of our show.

01:10 If you live in America in the 21st century then you are 100% aware of what a gun is. Many Americans love to reference their US Constitutional 2nd Amendment which states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.“

01:40 Much like the Bible, the Quran, and other outdated texts that are for some reason still referenced in this day and age, this amendment has words that are open to interpretation by the reader. Because of this, America fights over guns every single day, slogging through mass shooting after mass shooting just to send more thoughts and prayers and start the whole process over again. Unfortunately, also because of this, we have a full clip of songs about guns in the episode and had plenty to choose from.

02:10 Starting things off is The Rebel Spell with guns personified. “I Am A Rifle” speaks from the gun’s perspective and boy is it a harsh reality. Toddserious’ final lyric of the song gives me chills to hear and read. “I am a rifle, I am this blockade, I am the fire of a thousand murdered sons, I am resistance, I am your problem, I’m not leaving and I am your fault!” Extremely apt and on point. Sadly, Toddserious fell while rock climbing near Las Vegas in 2015 and died. What an unbelievably tragic end to something so hopeful. Propagandhi covered it in 2015 after Todd died, but here’s Todd and The Rebel Spell doing “I Am A Rifle”.

Set 1: The Wonderful Thing About Triggers

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 There’s definitely a market out there for people who love to look at scantily-clad women sporting an assault weapon. It reminds me of being a kid and seeing posters on garage walls of uncles who loved Harleys or that older brother character in 80s teen movies. Back then it seemed liked such a trucker/biker thing, but there’s nuance in fetish and clearly the concept attracted people all over the ideological spectrum. That was The Cramps doing “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns”.

00:40 The Lillingtons play that Ramones-core punk rock that other groups like Screeching Weasel, The Queers, The Riverdales, The Eyeliners, and Teenage Bottlerocket are known for. With simple lyrics, chords, and solos, the Wyoming punks pride themselves on simplicity. “Gunbullet” is a tune about a double agent who travels to West Iran to…mess up “their” plan.

01:10 Aussie punks The Chats play classic punk revival from down under. Their sound is nearly identical to the groups who first created it almost 30 years before The Chats were born. “The Kids Need Guns” references little Johnny and Petey; two American kids who shoot the kids at school after learning it from the TV. It sounds so unreal, yet it happens almost weekly in America.

01:40 One of those classic punk bands that has made an impact on The Chats was The Damned. A classic masterpiece in the punk scene, Machine Gun Etiquette. This album was harder and faster than their previous two records, perhaps due to having Lemmy Kilmister join Rat Scabies, Dave Vanian, and Captain Sensible in their offshoot effort Les Punks.

02:10 Coming up in our next set, we have some California skate punk paired up with Aussie and British garage acts. Leading off the set is the very first Rancid song I ever heard, “Gunshot”. Taken from Epitaph Records’ 1994 release Let’s Go, the track blasts out of a gun barrel with Lars Frederiksen’s hooky licks. Here’s Matt Freeman singing for the gang with “Gunshot”.

Intermission

Set 2: Fully Loaded

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 That songs gets dark fairly quickly. That’s kinda how Billy Childish writes, though. The legendary punker and painter has been kicking out music since the mid 1970s and has released well over 100 albums in that time. “The Gun In My Father’s Hand” was featured as the A-side to a double dad-hating single from 1996. The B-Side was titled “The Day I Beat My Father Up”. Given that Billy’s dad was thrown in jail for smuggling drugs, I’d imagine these are fairly autobiographical daddy ditties.

00:40 Straight Arrows played before that with the tune “Gun Man” from their 2018 album On Top!. The Sydney group recorded their debut album It’s Happening on “strictly 1950s equipment” according to their Bandcamp page. Something must be in the water down under, because the psych fuzz music they put out down there is unmatchable to the rest of the West.

01:10 Wild Smiles hail from Hampshire and slap their British take on surf fuzz with their 2014 album Always Tomorrow. The band’s sound has been described as a mix of the Beach Boys, the Velvet Underground, the Shoes, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Dinosaur Jr. Or, if you’d like to simplify that, surfgaze. Is that a thing? I mean its all under the psych umbrella anyway. “The Gun” from Always Tomorrow was sandwiched in the middle of this set.

01:40 Joey Cape and the SoCal skate punks Lagwagon dropped by for a cut from most-likely their best known album Let’s Talk About Feelings. The LP was released on Fat Wreck Chords in 1998. Original band drummer Derrick Plourde left the band after their 2nd album Hoss, but would go on to drum for Joey Cape’s other band Bad Astronaut up until Derrick’s suicide in 2005. According the Kris Roe of The Ataris, Derrick shot himself.

02:10 And on that note our next set is filled with songs about staying away from those damn hand cannons. Tijuana Panthers are here to proclaim that you not shoot your guns. In 2015, the group put out Max Baker, their 4th LP. They hail from SoCal and their spin of surf rock sounds like its been thrown through a wow and flutter K-hole and scooped back out with a can of Tecate. Maybe its their chord progression or writing style, but I dig it. Here’s “Don’t Shoot Your Guns” from the T-Panthers.

Intermission

Set 3: Safety Switch

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15  I can’t even imagine the weight, much less impact of a six barrel shotgun. A single barrel shotgun has enough kick to break weak shoulders, imagine that times six? Black Rebel Motorcycle Club hail from the Bay Area of San Francisco, California, one of a handful of Bay Area artists on the show today. “Six Barrel Shotgun” comes from their ’03 release Take Them On, On Your Own.

00:30  The indie oasis of Austin, Texas has been serving up amazing rock and roll since the early days with garage groups like Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs and the infamously dubbed first-ever psychedelic group; The 13th Floor Elevators. The Black Angels take some cues from the Elevators with their tripped out psych sound, although I don’t ever hear the jug making a psychedelic comeback anytime soon. Their cautionary tale “Don’t Play With Guns” was the only single released from their 2013 LP Indigo Meadow.

01:00 More Bay Area psych sounds played before that with John Dwyer and the gang playing “Dead Man’s Gun” from Thee Oh Sees’ 2016 LP A Weird Exits. That album, along with its companion EP An Odd Entrances, was the first for the band to feature dual drummers. At that point, they began experimenting with progressive rock style song structures and jams, with some songs lasting upwards of twenty minutes!

01:30 German band Suspect Parts played us a cut from their 2017 self-titled debut. Well, the re-release was self-titled. The first tour edition of the album was titled Run For Your Life. “Madmen With Guns” laments living in fear of being shot and in many parts of the Western world that reality is just that, reality. What really gets you thinking, is what is considered a “madman”.

01:50 Up next we’re gonna hear about a few types of guns. I could probably put together an entire playlist just on gun types with how many gun songs are out there. Let’s keep it basic today and stick to a few well-knowns. How about revolvers, pistols, shotguns and machine guns? In 1933, German playwright, poet and Nazi Hanns Johst wrote a play titled Schlageter that uttered the famous and very often misattributed line “When I hear the word culture, I release the safety on my Browning.” Gross. This line has been twisted up a bit over the years and often credited to other infamous Nazis. Case in point, in 1981 Clint Conley of Mission Of Burma wrote the next song and titled it “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver”; a mistranslated version of the quote.

Intermission

Set 4: Weapons, Weapons, Weapons

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Casey Royer of DI and Adolescents fame wrote some complicated lyrics for the song “Guns”. It seems to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, calling out America’s love for guns and fear of them at the same time. Throw in a dash of libertarian-leave-me-alone and a few sprinkles of anti-authority and you have the makings of an essential 80s punk song. “Guns” was one of the first songs recorded by DI, released on their debut EP in 1983. You can find more DI on abp’s surfing and johnny episodes!

00:40 RMBLR formed out of the ashes of Atlanta glam punks The Heart Attacks. The Heart Attacks took cues from fellow Atlanta punks Black Lips and brought shock and awe to their stage presence, going for the typical rock and roll imagery and lifestyle. I mean, the lead singer’s name was Haircut. That was Chase Noles, who now goes by Chase Tail for RMBLRS. We heard “Machine Gun” from RMBLR’s 2021 self-titled EP.

01:10 Ty Segall side project Gøggs referenced the double barrel in their 2016 track “Shotgun Shooter”. Much like Suspect Parts’ tune from earlier, this song discusses the fear of being shot by someone on a rampage. Gøggs is comprised of Ty, Charles Mootheart, and Chris Shaw of Ex-Cult. We’ll hear more from Ty a bit later.

01:30 Kings of Leon’s first two LPs stand tall in the garage rock revival days of the early ought’s. Garage punk would eventually take over toward the end of the decade, but bands like Kings, White Stripes, Strokes, etc. paved the way for the return of rock and roll to the mainstream. Apparently, the band hadn’t fully formed or learned all their instruments by the time they were offered a record deal. So they locked themselves in a basement with an ounce of grass and practiced until they were ready. We heard “Pistol of Fire” from their 2nd album Aha Shake Heartbreak.

02:00 LA hardcore punk band The Bronx is up next with “Guns Without Bullets” from their self-titled debut; the first of 5 self-titled albums.  The Bronx also performs as a mariachi style band as Mariachi El Bronx and has released 3 full lengths under the pseudonym. Guns would be nothing without the ammo inside. Let’s take a stroll down the bullet-vard and see what we can find.

Intermission

Set 5: Bullet With Butterfly Wings

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 You may have recognized that tune if you’re a big Clash fan. And if you are a big Clash fan, you’ll like the next set! “Washington Bullets” is an anti-war song written by Joe Strummer that drums up the horrible history of US foreign policy. I’ll give you a hint, it isn’t a peaceful history and bullets were almost always present. Strummer claimed he had never heard of the NBA team of the same name, however they won the NBA championship in 1978, just two years before the song’s release. I have to imagine he subconsciously saw it on a newspaper or something, or else its just a coincidence. I mean why would they name the team that?

00:40 UK band Franz Ferdinand took their name from the historical figure of the same name, the Archduke of Austria. Historians have pretty much agreed that Franz Ferdinand’s assassination was the most immediate cause for World War I. Was it poison? Was it a bombing? The assassins tried the latter earlier in the morning that Franz was killed, but failed. So instead, you guessed it, Franz and his wife were shot point blank while riding in their car. Killed by a bullet, the title of the Franz Ferdinand track played.

00:55 Ty Segall crooned about being abused in “Bullet Proof Nothing” before Franz’s tune. I honestly cannot tell if he is sincerely asking to be treated like dirt in some sort of sadomasochistic way, or if he’s speaking tongue-in-cheek about having a bad relationship full of abuse. “I’m a bullet proof nothing to you, point blank target to your ways of abuse.” The cut comes from the Caesar single.

01:15 Brody Dalle and The Distillers were everywhere in the pop punk craze of the early ought’s. She famously hooked up with (at a very young and concerning age of 17) Tim Armstrong who helped launch her to stardom. Tim’s been accused of grooming Brody during their relationship, to the point that the man she left him for, Josh Homme, has threatened his life. Oddly enough, Brody would go on to marry Josh and have 3 children with him, but divorced him in 2019 citing domestic violence and drug/alcohol abuse. During court proceedings over their competing domestic violence restraining orders in January 2022, Dalle testified that Homme headbutted her so hard she “saw stars” and said he fantasized about murdering her. She was also fined and sentenced to community service a month prior for not honoring court ordered custody time for Josh and the children.

01:40 Although Tim’s allegedly made some very questionable decisions in his past, he has also put out some pretty good music. Its no secret that his favorite band is The Clash, and that was very evident in the late 90s reggae/dub phase of Rancid’s music. If you liked that “Washington Bullets” cover, you’ll like the next set. Here comes two gun cuts from Give ‘Em Enough Rope, followed by a couple of Clash-adjacent songs and a chill ending.

Intermission

Set 6: Clashing Ideals

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 I seriously considered a cover for that, but the original is just untouchable. The guitar tone, the eerie vibe, the Tarantino connection; it had to be the OG. Nancy was partnered up with Lee Hazlewood in the early 1960s at the request of her father Frank Sinatra. Lee was a hip new producer who had scored a hit with Duane Eddy’s “Rebel Rouser”, one of the most famous guitar instrumentals in rock history. That came out in 1958, and in 1959 Lee would produce Duane again for his Especially For You LP, which featured Duane’s cover of “Peter Gunn”, the tune you hear now in the background.

00:40 Prior to Nancy was The Crickets with a very famous rebel tune. After Buddy Holly died, The Crickets pushed on and brought in new singer Earl Sinks to help them put out another LP. In Style With The Crickets was moderately successful, led by a handful of singles. I’d have to argue that “I Fought The Law” was ultimately the most successful song off the album, though. It may not have sold a lot, but its legacy is cemented in rock and roll history. The Clash covered it on their 1979 EP The Cost Of Living, released just 6 months after Give ‘Em Enough Rope.

01:10 Dropkick Murphys played their punk cover of the Clash’s “Guns Of Brixton”. The original version was sampled in 2004 by Cypress Hill for their song “What’s Your Number?“. It featured Tim Armstrong on guitar. Tim also can be heard shouting the title of Rancid’s 1994 album Let’s Go throughout the song. The Murphys cover comes from a 1998 split EP with Anti-Heros.

01:40 The Clash played a couple of gun songs to kick off the set; both from their sophomore album. The first was “Guns On The Roof”, a tune partially inspired by Topper Headon and Mick Jones shooting air-soft guns at racing pigeons on the roof of their rehearsal building and getting arrested. Most of the song, though, is about how controlled the world is by the gun. Live by the gun, die by the gun, I guess.

02:10 The second gun song was “Tommy Gun”. Big shocker here, but this one was also anti-gun. Its notable that drummer Topper Headon plays the snare like the sound of a tommy gun in many parts of the song. This was also done in “I Fought The Law”, with the line “robbin’ people with a six/zip gun” playing over a snare that hits six times.

02:20 And on that note, we must return the safety switch to the Browning. As difficult as it was at times, its been a real pleasure discussing the tools of death today, and I hope you had fun! Remember kids…don’t play with guns…don’t play with guns….

02:25 (music plays and fades out)

Outro

Check out my List for all of the releases featured!