In summary:

Scottish rockers Gun have dropped one of the best albums of 2024. Hombres has landed them their first UK Top 10 Album in 30 years, and it will grab your attention from start to finish.

Hombres receives 9/11.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Glaswegian rockers Gun return with their ninth studio album Hombres, and it might just be their best work so far.

Given the not-so-great way they bowed out of their original run with 1997’s disastrous 0141, few could have predicted the consistently high quality output of their second bite at the cherry after re-forming in 2009.

After releasing a string of good albums throughout the 2010s, they finally began to receive the recognition they deserved when 2017’s superb Favourite Pleasures saw them climb back into the Top 20 for the first time since 1994, and it meant the pressure was really on for this one.

So it pleases me to announce that they’ve delivered the goods again!

Hombres manages to find a way to take all of the things which made Favourite Pleasures work so well and continue the great work. Fans of the band will be thrilled to hear that this album retains the heaviness of its predecessor, too, which enables Gun to do what they do best; straight-ahead rock n’ roll.

From the punchy rock of opener All Fired Up, to the sentimental vocal-and-guitar work of Falling, there are several highlights here.

Also, each song is tight and straight to the point, with only two of the 10-track set going over the 4-minute mark.

That’s not to say Hombres is a simple record, by any means. Dante Gizzi’s lyrics discuss a series of topics ranging from lockdown frustrations (All Fired Up), to bitter break-ups (Never Enough), and the struggles of a social media world (Fake Life), but they manage to do so in a manner which enables them to get in, get the job done, and get out with minimal room for filler.

There are a lot of great performances to applaud here (Paul McManus’ thunderous drums on Never Enough, Andy Carr’s pummelling bassline on Take Me Back Home, Dante Gizzi’s raw vocal work on Falling, new rhythm guitarist Ru Moy slapping the endlessly playable riff of You Are What I Need, and the excellent backing vocals on Lucky Guy, are all memorable), but it’s the consistently high performance of one particular band member which holds the keys to Hombres’ success.

Take a bow, Jools Gizzi.

Gun’s axe-man produces several hairs-standing-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck moments by ripping into his guitar solos in a way that he hasn’t since the mid-90s. Each one is precise, slotting easily into the underlying rhythm section and helping to elevate several songs to a level which surpasses much of their previous work.

Hell, it’s not even just just the solo’s themselves, but rather the way in which Gizzi enthusiastically sets them up, scaling the fretboard like an excited child getting ready to open a big present on Christmas day, before dropping a thunder-bastard of a face-melter on his listeners.

As for the low points of Hombres, they are few and far between, but they do exist.

First, the running order could have been significantly better (more on this below). Also, second track Boys Don’t Cry pulls the band too far away from their trademark sound (think if Axl Rose joined The Stone Roses) but is ultimately saved by a great guitar solo.

And finally, there’s the joy-and-disappointment of Falling – a fantastic song which seems to be building to an epic crescendo as Jools Gizzi tears into a Slash-esque second solo of the song, only for the track to fade out within 10-seconds (which feels like the musical equivalent of blue-balling the audience).

The overall highlight of Hombres is undoubtedly Take Me Back Home.

Upon first listen, its thumping guitar riff and low-strung verse will conjure up mental images of Steal Your Fire from 1992’s Gallus, but just as your brain’s about to accuse Gun of, errr, ripping off Gun, this track opens up into the best chorus they have ever written, in what will undoubtedly go down as one of the superior rock anthems of 2024.

Well done, Gun, you fully deserve all of the success this album brings to you.

Russ’ re-worked playlist:

Maybe it’s the autism in me, but I’ve always been good at re-working album playlists to create a superior listening experience. What can I say? Superman got laser eyes, and I got this! Here’s how you should listen to Gun: Hombres (2024) for maximum effectiveness:

1. All Fired Up (3:42)
2. Never Enough (3:12)
3. You Are What I Need (4:39)
4. Don’t Hide Your Fears Tonight (3:32)
5. Lucky Guy (3:16)
6. Take Me Back Home (3:12)
7. Fake Life (3:35)
8. Falling (3:31)
9. Boys Don’t Cry (2:54)
10. A Shift In Time (4:21)

In summary:

Scottish rockers Gun have dropped one of the best albums of 2024. Hombres has landed them their first UK Top 10 Album in 30 years, and it will grab your attention from start to finish.

Hombres receives 9/11.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★