Imagine the noise made by a cheese-grater abrading an alley cat. If you deem this tolerable, you might like the voice of Matt Arbogast, the lead singer of The Gunshy.
Their new album, titled "Soul," features violin, stand-up bass and trumpet accompaniments, but their melodic composition is nowhere near powerful enough to hide the horrors of the lead vocals.
Arbogast's voice is similar to that of Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, and on top of that, he tries to force a Scottish accent. With songs like "My Nicotine, My Whiskey" and "4$ Pabst" The Gunshy is setting the stage for a gritty album. However, every now and again a graceful violin solo offsets their cheeky attitude.
An artistic sketch of the first chapter of Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis" can be found inside the album jacket, which synchronizes well with The Gunshy's bizarre lyrics. In "4$ Pabst," Arbogast laments a lost love while using a cheap-beer metaphor as his vehicle of expression.
"With a drink and a few words, we almost wish we were overheard/ About who it seems no one would understand/ The terrors of our youth, the hopes we overused, and why it cost four bucks for a Pabst Blue Ribbon can."
Despite the bleak sound, a few of their tracks, like "Call Me Home," display a bit of self-inflicted humor.
"I'd rather walk the streets with only this shirt to my name/ Than pretend that I don't mean these verses I keep repeating through some half-assed melodies."
The same witty self-loathing appears in "Let There Be No Mournful Tears."
"I wish there was more to leave you than some credit bills left overdue/ CDs no one would ever use from a guitar I could only abuse."
Punchy pessimism seems to be their main focus. On Myspace.com The Gunshy lists their source of influence as "anything with a f***ing soul."
How fantastically sassy!
Like any indie rock group, The Gunshy tries to scare the crap out of generic music, but because their lead singer sounds like a pirate, they may in fact be scaring the crap out of sympathetic listeners.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
