Search - Guitar Gangsters :: Let Em Have It

Real Punk, Real Good

Alex Faber | Northern NJ United States | 03/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Guitar Gangsters is one of those bands that has been around forever, plays with honesty and passion, always puts out good music, and yet somehow never got enough notice and respect.



Whereas so many bands today are quick to proclaim how punk they are and dress the part, Guitar Gangsters come from a different time, when punk was in its nascent stages, when bands like Sham 69 and Stiff Little Fingers (mentioned in "Wild At Heart") were championing the true punk sound from the streets of the UK. Like them, Guitar Gangsters play without the snottiness or posing of the Sex Pistols. Instead, they adopt a simpler approach for the everyday man ... I would almost call it proletariat rock.



I've been a fan of the Gangsters for a while, and "Let 'Em Have It" didn't let me down. The songs bristle with experience and power, as in "She Gives Me Stereo" and "Faith," and the fantastic sense of melody is present in all the songs too ... just try to listen to "Going to London" or the outstanding closer "Undefeated" without singing along. Throwing in a reggae track ("Money In My Pocket") and a cover ("Can't Take My Eyes Off You"), this album is a gem, and the would-be punks and rebels of today could learn something from it ("Big Machine" puts them in their place).



There's no shouting, no screaming, and no discordance here, just 14 tracks of powerful rock and insanely catchy melodies. A part of punk history, the Guitar Gangsters have never sounded better."