Hailing from sunny San Diego, garage punk outfit Blair Gun lets loose with their debut album, Blaspheme Queen.
A no-filler 12 track album, Blaspheme Queen is served best when you give up on having a clear self conscience and just ride it out with the band's confident strides. A smooth execution, Blair Gun's debut full-length feels mature and extraordinarily cohesive. While claiming to be inspired by 70s punk, Blair Gun does not limit themselves to any era or style. While being a perfect representation of the collective garage sound coming out from suburb California, Blair Gun functions on a much more sophisticated, perfected groove and rhythm like a cool coastal breeze. For a debut album, Blaspheme Queen carries an exceptional kind of grace that balances complexity and frenzy.
Could it have had a better mix? Sure! But the energy of Blair Gun is just so clean slated and exhilarating. "Man Of The Hour" makes a close perfect post-punk track, one that was made for the California dying sunset and the valley's tucked-away bungalow rows. Under the bigger blanket of garage and punk, Blair Gun certainly explores most corners of the rock spectrum. "Genovese," for example, feels like a slushy grunge-inspired number sprinkled with just a touch of glam. The following track, "Pound Sand," continues the same train of thoughts while turning the classic rock influence a notch up, combining the sounds from bands like Eagles and Nirvana alike.
The band puts it best with their own words: "Blaspheme Queen, our debut studio album, has been the culmination of 3 years of songwriting and represents our favorite songs we've written over that time period. It's our attempt to break up the monotony of our home town san diego scene, a city known for a very specific kind of rock. We hope to blend the heavy rock of the 90s, the punchy punk of the 70s, and contemporary lo-fi acoustic rock, into something fresh and, hopefully, at least listenable."
For a debut album, Blaspheme Queen encompasses more courageous attempts than most bands would ever attempt in their entire career.
