The Duane Peters Gunfight - The Duane Peters Gunfight
Musically speaking, Duane Peters is a busy man. With two full time bands, the U.S. Bombs and Die Hunns, it’s a bit of a surprise he’d start up yet another one but here’s the album to prove it. Long time fans had a right to view this release with skepticism because frankly, before Duane Peters & The Hunns brought in Corey Parks and changed the name to Die Hunns, they were almost indistinguishable from the U.S. Bombs. So it’s natural to assume this would be yet a third band playing the exact same thing. While rooted in a similar aesthetic there are enough differences and flourishes to make it stand on its own two feet and in some cases, top the more recent output of his other outfits.
At its core this is a punk rock band (as if Duane could be in anything different!) but there’s an undeniable radio friendly polish to the music which instantly sets it apart from the more street punk vibe of his other bands. Adding to this is the constant use of dual vocals both on the choruses and the verses. This seriously takes the edge off Duane’s ragged vocals as they are almost never singled out, instead wrapped in more listener friendly back-up vocals. Another notable difference is the guitar work, specifically the lead guitars. The Bombs and The Hunns always used the greaser/’77 template for the solos, sounding like the retro throwbacks they are, but here it’s a lot more melodic modern rock in nature. At times it reminds me a bit of The Cult with very bright, strong leads that stick in your head. This is a nice return to form as the early Bombs albums had the same strong use of melodies running through them.
All this adds up to basically a more radio friendly version of Duane’s other bands while maintaining enough of his core street punk qualities to appeal to fans of those other bands. Personally I find a lot of the songs on this disc to be superior to the output of his other bands; mainly because it seems like ever since their previous lead guitarist died they’ve been missing some of the catchy songwriting that made the first U.S. Bombs records so good. Now they’ve managed to capture some of that old magic if in a bit less straight punk format.
The big question is if this is a one-off side project. I doubt it given the track record of his other bands but it’s hard to imagine finding the time to front three different bands unless this is just a studio band. Regardless, let’s hope we hear more from my current favorite Duane Peters band.
At its core this is a punk rock band (as if Duane could be in anything different!) but there’s an undeniable radio friendly polish to the music which instantly sets it apart from the more street punk vibe of his other bands. Adding to this is the constant use of dual vocals both on the choruses and the verses. This seriously takes the edge off Duane’s ragged vocals as they are almost never singled out, instead wrapped in more listener friendly back-up vocals. Another notable difference is the guitar work, specifically the lead guitars. The Bombs and The Hunns always used the greaser/’77 template for the solos, sounding like the retro throwbacks they are, but here it’s a lot more melodic modern rock in nature. At times it reminds me a bit of The Cult with very bright, strong leads that stick in your head. This is a nice return to form as the early Bombs albums had the same strong use of melodies running through them.
All this adds up to basically a more radio friendly version of Duane’s other bands while maintaining enough of his core street punk qualities to appeal to fans of those other bands. Personally I find a lot of the songs on this disc to be superior to the output of his other bands; mainly because it seems like ever since their previous lead guitarist died they’ve been missing some of the catchy songwriting that made the first U.S. Bombs records so good. Now they’ve managed to capture some of that old magic if in a bit less straight punk format.
The big question is if this is a one-off side project. I doubt it given the track record of his other bands but it’s hard to imagine finding the time to front three different bands unless this is just a studio band. Regardless, let’s hope we hear more from my current favorite Duane Peters band.
