I’ve got a few things to say about this self-titled elpee from Oakland California’s Hurry Up Shotgun, so lemme just ramble here…

Somehow, and don’t ask me to quantify this, but somehow, Hurry Up Shotgun’s traditional (yet super fresh sounding) song structures throw my brain and I back to the seventies, when everything was hairy and smelled like gasoline. I haven’t figured out why as of this writing, but I believe I could play this for some friends my age who gave up on listening to anything new twenty years ago (at least) and score Hurry Up Shotgun a few new fans. Their music in this current batch o’ tunes FEEL like they are NOT OF THIS TIME, which is to say, these songs do not fit into any current genre bin. Hurry Up Shotgun STANDS ALONE.

Austin Pitts’ guitar playing abilities are STAGGERING. I hear Roger Miller No Man-era shredding, and I know that’s not congruent with my previous seventies statement, but there you have it.

Austin Pitts is one hella howler, completely congruent with my previous seventies statement. Had he been around back then when COCK ROCK WAS KING and flashy vocal gymnasts were all the rage, Pitts would’ve found himself at the epicenter of an old-fashioned major label bidding war. Every day would’ve rained hookers and coke on him, forever and ever, amen.

Austin Pitts would’ve turned all major solo deals down, would’ve kept his bandmates Craig Eastman (on bass) and Adam Kayne (on drums) and found an even bigger record deal, although the label would’ve made them shorten their name to “Shotgun.” They would’ve been initially forced to tour with Molly Hatchet and Blackfoot, but they would’ve survived that indignity and gone on to be SUPERSTARS, and you never would’ve had yer ears filled with loose shit like Journey or REO Speedwagon. Ever.

Also, Hurry Up Shotgun sounds like California. Again, don’t ask me to explain, just hurry up and buy this record. If you think I’m wrong about any of this, let me know.

(But you won’t, cuz I’m not.)