Gun

A Glaswegian outfit steeped in hard rock, Gun first seized attention in 1989 when their single “Better Days” crashed toward but missed the upper reaches of the U.K. chart with its forceful, propulsive thrash-rock drive. That track and the ensuing “Money” anchored the band’s debut album, Taking on the World. Frequent personnel shifts marked the ensuing years, as two guitarists and two drummers came and went, leaving vocalist Mark Rankin and brothers Giuliano and Dante Gizzi—the latter pair handling guitar and bass—as the stable core. Although several members were still teenagers, with Dante merely 15 when the group formed, Gun earned strong industry respect, secured an A&M deal, and tackled material by acts such as Thin Lizzy. They resurfaced in 1992 with the fierce single “Steal Your Fire,” which charted respectably, yet additional tracks drawn from the follow-up album Gallus made little further impression. After audiences responded enthusiastically to live renditions of Cameo’s “Word Up,” the band issued a studio version in July 1994; that recording became their biggest success to date, propelling both the single and its parent album Swagger into the U.K. Top Ten, while Q magazine later listed Swagger among its albums of the year. Following a three-year hiatus, the group adopted the stylized name G.U.N. to distance themselves from an ’80s connotation. Their next release, 0141 632 6326—titled after their own information line—adopted a brighter, pop-inflected sound under the guidance of INXS member Andrew Farriss. Despite heavy airplay, the buoyant “Crazy You” peaked at number 21, and “My Sweet Jane” failed to register. The band dissolved in 1997 yet staged occasional reunion shows in 1998 and 1999. In 2008 they declared a full reformation, installing Toby Jepson in place of Rankin, after which they appeared at several festivals and mounted a headline tour. Further changes arrived in 2010 when drummer Gordon McNeil yielded to Paul McManus and Jepson stepped away; Dante Gizzi then assumed lead vocals while Derek Brown joined on bass. The resulting album Break the Silence surfaced in 2012, followed by Frantic in 2015. Their seventh studio effort, Favourite Pleasures, arrived in 2017, and between that record and its successor the band maintained a steady schedule of U.K. dates alongside occasional U.S. performances. For 2022’s The Calton Songs—titled after the Glasgow neighborhood of their early years—G.U.N. offered semi-acoustic reinterpretations of earlier material. Dante captured the initial takes inside his parents’ spare room amid COVID-19 lockdowns, the identical space where the group’s first songs had been written; final work took place at Morsecode studios with vocal support from Beverley Skeete & the Sisterhood, who also accompanied the band on a series of acoustic concerts. Seven years after Favourite Pleasures, 2024 brought Hombres, their first collection of original songs in that span, featuring the energetic singles “All Fired Up,” “Take Me Back Home,” and “Boys Don't Cry” and bearing the production stamp of Simon Bloor.