And his aim is lousy by the sound of it…
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[7.17]
Anthony Easton: That riff is almost as apocalyptic as the lyrics deserve, and the vocals flirting with speaking, or being flat, put emphasis on the words themselves: cryptic, difficult, and haunting.
[9]
Edward Okulicz: It’s late November, so it’s not too early to crown this the riff of the year, and it’s used brilliantly, snaking through a track which remarkably has a few other A-grade tricks to reveal. The vocal interplay isn’t sweet-and-sour, more sour-and-sourer. There’s a weird tension and menace that comes from both that steady beat, the slapdash taps on the piano and the lyrics that are an apocalypse writ small, and it all comes together in a beguiling fashion.
[9]
Ian Mathers: Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet have both been hanging around the Canadian music industry for a while now, so it’s not surprising that their work as Whitehorse is smoothly assured, although thankfully not too polished to be interesting. The duo vocals at the beginning remind me of Mother Mother, although “Devil’s Got a Gun” is less fervent than that band (but also less goofy), and the song shifts easily into loping, singalong chorus. It’s the kind of unobtrusively catchy song that you might not think much of at the time, but catch yourself humming the next day.
[7]
Alfred Soto: If any hook defines “effortless,” it’s this one. So lockstep are the lyrics delineating a personal if not global apocalypse, so assured are the two voices harmonizing that the performance, like Nashville product, flirts with mere facility. Sometimes I think it goes all the way.
[6]
Brad Shoup: I think I get it… it’s one of those ABBAesque dioramas of dysfunction, high-swiped acoustic chords and all. The song keeps pivoting from a kind of back-porch twangy tango (twango!) to pop performativity. It’s all very woozying. I do wish I liked the singers more.
[6]
Jonathan Bogart: The closely twined singing, riff, percussion loops, and lyrics are so assured that I’m almost convinced I’m being pulled along in the song’s wake. But it turns out there’s no actual forward momentum, just a really tricked-out seesaw.
[6]