Militarie Gun will release their second album God Save The Gun on October 17 via Loma Vista.
Frontman and bandleader Ian Shelton describes the follow-up to 2023's acclaimed Life Under The Gun album as “an absurdist guide to the intersection of self-destruction and self-belief,” with the singer addressing addiction struggles after being straight edge for most of his life.
“I’m well aware that being this vulnerable turns my personal trauma into a marketing hook for this album,” he admits. “But I’m fine with it, if not provoking it.
“Over the past couple years, as I spoke about addiction from the perspective of someone affected by it, I became the one struggling with it. There’s a farcical logic to entering a situation, fully knowing the consequences, and doing it anyway - but that’s where my head was when I started leaning on drinking.”
“Growing up around AA, there’s this kind of this fallacy that you have to hit rock bottom to ever improve your life,” Shelton tells Rolling Stone. “I really wanted to dispel the romanticism of rock bottom, of the glorious martyr. No, you actually can choose to just do better. You don’t have to wait for the worst possible outcome.”
“When it came time to actually execute the record, and I looked at all the things I was saying, I was like, Nah, I’m asking for help and I don’t know how else to do it,” he adds.
“I need to listen to my subconscious and pull myself out of a tailspin that I was really beginning.”
The album's first single, B A D I D E A, is out now, accompanied by a video directed by Shelton, and featuring band members William Acuña (guitar), Kevin Kiley (guitar), Waylon Trim (bass), and David Stalsworth (drums).
“I wanted to make a video that was a celebration of vices, a new iteration of yourself looking back at a moment you made a mistake while never truly reflecting,” he explains. “This was the most technically challenging video we’ve ever done and it only fits a song spelling out the words ‘bad idea.’”
The album tracklist is:
1. Pt II
2. B A D I D E A
3. Fill Me With Paint
4. Throw Me Away
5. God Owes Me Money
6. Daydream
7. Maybe I’ll Burn My Life Down
8. Kick
9. Laugh at Me
10. Wake Up and Smile
11. I Won’t Murder Your Friend
12. Isaac’s Song
13. Thought You Were Waving
14. God Save the Gun
God Save The Gun can be pre-ordered now.