Review: Gunfire 76 – Casualties & Tragedies

Sergio reviews Gunfire 76′s Casualties and Tragedies.

Artist Name: Gunfire 76
Album Name: Casualties & Tragedies
Year: 2009
Genre: Rock

Earlier this year, Wednesday 13 teamed up with Todd Youth (The Chelsea Smiles) to create a new rock-inspired project called Gunfire 76. After entering the studio and narrowing down their work to 11 tracks, G-76 has finally released their first album, Casualties and Tragedies.

Moving away from Mr. 13’s distinctive punk’n’roll sound and campy horror-themed lyrics; Casualties & Tragedies is a more straight-forward rock release in the same vein as bands such as Kiss, Alice Cooper and The New York Dolls. Taking the mantle from the gods of rock, it’s a record crammed with sing-along choruses, Guitar Hero-type solos, chugging riffs and songs about the rock’n’roll life – standard rules for rock songs really.

The main thing that stood out for me on the album was how Wednesday took his vocals to a completely different level. I’ve always thought that he had a characteristic voice, but never a great one…until now. I listened to ‘Get Me through the Night’ and found it scary how much he sounded just like Alice Cooper, which is never a bad thing considering that Alice is a freakin’ legend!

Two thumbs up to Todd Youth who obviously must’ve pushed Wednesday a bit more than usual with his supreme guitar skills – seriously, Youth rocks it on ‘Let’s Kill the Hero’. I reckon this guy could walk into Motley Crue’s rehearsal room and drop them dead with his slick fretwork!

Die-hard Wednesday 13 fans will most likely embrace this release as they’ve probably been used to his continual musical evolution throughout the years. While nowhere near as heavy as Skeletons or even Transylvania 90210, C&T is still relevant enough to keep Wednesday 13 on the map.

Best Tracks: ‘Los Angel-less’, ‘Get Me through the Night’, and ‘Something for the Suffering’

80/100

- Sergio Pereira
sergio@musicreview.co.za