Shotgun Affair
The Dublin Castle club
London, UK
January 20, 2008

by Alissa Ordabai
Staff Writer

Comments: No other band represents the new generation of young British stars-in-waiting better than Shotgun Affair -- chopsmen extraordinaire hailing from Colchester, South-East England, armed with munition of riotous songs, lightning-fast technique, and explosive hothead temperament. Their vehemence and virtuosity of execution are killing crowds live, spookily brining to mind the storm brought by the pioneers of thrash to Bay Area clubs in the early Eighties. Right now Shotgun Affair are one of the best up-and-coming acts to see play in England, and are certainly the finest when it comes to delivering an intense and surprisingly fresh reading of old-school metal and hard rock.

Apart from their chops and their energy, what is equally stunning about this band is their young age. Guitarist James Murray is eighteen and is the youngest member of the band, while the oldest, bassist Nick Johnson, just turned twenty last month. Being at an early stage of their creative development, they naturally continue to evolve and to experiment, making progress with every show they play, a truly fascinating band to follow and to watch grow.

On Jan. 20 at the Dublin Castle club in North London, Shotgun Affair again confirmed their reputation of a volatile live act that leaves nothing undelivered. Their set began with "Get to You," a hurtling, vivid song that didn’t hold anything back. James Murray was setting the stage alight with a relentlessly raucous guitar attack, from the word go establishing the pace for the sizzling guitarfest that was going to continue for the rest of the show. His leads tend to dominate the songs, but they are just one of the elements of this band’s dense compositional structure which in its entirety is expertly directed by drummer Isaac Reeve and bassist Nick Johnson. Singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Fogg is no slouch either, his rough-hewn voice and take-no-prisoners attitude turning him into a compelling, fiery frontman who manages to bring out the raw-edged flair at the heart of this act in every song they play.

The real standout of the set, however, was "Space for Graves", a steel-strong vibrant showstopper that had the audience stomping their feet and raising their fists right off the bat. Starting with a head-on guitar assault, it instantly brought to mind Metallica's Kill Them All, when it dived into a breathtaking stride, propelled by a tightly wound harmony with polyrhythmic drumming and punctuating bass pulsating underneath. Murray's rapid-fire runs added heat to the verses, but he really let it fly when he ripped into a full-length solo with a barrage of hammer-ons, pull-offs and some tapping wizardry, accompanied by some swaggering rock body language. He is an unpredictable, non-linear player, flash and intelligent, sometimes going for an almost symphonic multi-voiced guitar sound, and at other times throwing you on your back with sharply targeted high-speed attack. But no matter what direction he chooses to go into, he always sounds strong and self-assured, bringing back the spiritual power at the heart of thrash that hasn’t been heard for a while. This song could have been a chart-topping hit, eloquent and effective, giving a modern dimension to the Bay Area tradition and mixing it with clarity of old-school hard rock.

Another highlight "Goodbye Good Times" which concluded this show, started with an unexpected futuristic guitar intro that could have well been inspired by Satriani's Engines of Creation. What then followed though was pure thrash carnage, with ballsy full-on guitar meshing with the thunder of drums in a deafening sonoric swirl. The biting staccato guitar solo was an orgy of quick thrills, accompanied by impressive percussion panache, highlighting Murray and Reeve as resolute, uncompromising musicians. Reeves is a forceful drummer with unflagging energy who knows how to expresses his entire personality through his instrument. He is so naturally a musician, so spontaneously classic that at times it’s difficult to believe that he is only 19.

While they draw influences from many styles of heavy music ranging from NWBHM to thrash, Shotgun Affair still makes a conscious effort to escape the pattern, time and again coming up with fresh approaches to the classic genres. They haven’t reached their first milestone yet, but they are undoubtedly on their way to the top. Judging by the reaction of the audience who didn't want to let them go on the night, the band's material, apart from being so obviously impressive, is also versatile enough to recruit rock fans of all stylistic persuasions. You don’t have to be a metalhead or a guitar enthusiast to find this band important. You only have to be alive.

www.myspace.com/shotgunaffair

Photos provided by Alissa Ordabai