He's back, and this time, it's personal: the tagline is easy and to be read with a deep voice, like a punchy slogan that smells of both underarms and nostalgia, neo-retro-futurism for machos, but machos who like to waddle. Supershotgun releases a second EP, a year after introducing us to their world with The North Hollywood Heist Collection. The logo that could be an 8-bit shooter hasn't changed, and Rescue Through Time, once again mastered by Arco Trauma (Sonic Area, Les Tambours du Bronx, Chrysalide), promises another session of muscular synthwave... only bigger, louder and harder!
There's something deeply fun, something playful about Supershotgun that becomes blatantly obvious live. This guy is tinkering and having fun. To the regressive pleasure of nostalgia is added the childlike pleasure of creation in play. He cobbles together an exo-skeleton for his concerts just as he cobbles together his songs, learning on the job at a pace that defies all logic, driven by the best motivation of all: because it's COOL. We know it all sounds a bit old-fashioned, this world of grown-ups brawling and shooting at each other while pirouetting through explosions, hundreds of exotic mobsters to be wiped out, super-intelligent robots and, we hope, lots of nice heroic dogs. So we laugh. But we also take things very seriously, with sincere love... like this artwork, a Type O Negative pastiche, which has little to do with the content of the record. We play, we pay homage, again.
Let's talk about the music. Like all good sequels, Rescue Through Time darkens the tone. The sunnier, more exotic touches have all but disappeared, replaced by a heavier ambience from the menacing eponymous introduction. And then, the fight. The oppressive layers are taken over by simple, effective melodies, in a minimalism inherited from John Carpenter. The pace quickens and you can tell from Shrapnel City that Supershotgun has doubled down on the "show": more aggressive, darker, more in-your-face, its second EP oozes fight, night-time chases and the blinding lights of speeding tunnels.
The shadow of Perturbator is very much present, of course. We appreciate the care taken with the atmospheres, which, reading the tracklist in parallel, gives the EP its cinematic, narrative touch: obviously, the opaque, dangerous sound of Mastermind is there to introduce us to THE BAD GUY. Of course, THE GOOD GUY's adventures are full of twists and turns and moments of doubt, like the sinuous TRUSTNO1 and its pessimistic, mysterious futuristic ambience, or the melancholy Thy Flesh Consumed, which probably corresponds to the moment when THE GOOD GUY has taken a beating from THE BAD GUY and is on the verge of giving up. Fortunately, in the meantime, he receives the help of a side-kick (maybe it's time to introduce the nice dog? please, not an annoying kid), or a moving memory to put him back on his feet. Then, the final bouquet: Fear, Surprise & Ruthless Efficiency slices with gusto before a finale that, of course, takes us back to the beginning: this time, THE BAD GUY is going to get his ass kicked, probably at the top of something burning. THE GOOD GUY, aided and abetted by his gentle doggie and his new powers (and BIG GUNS) has won, yay!
To tell the truth, we don't know. Maybe, it's just all about the depressed life of an alcoholic android race car driver. Or a telepathic dog spy in the service of the New USSR, haunted by remorse. Or a BMX champion bodybuilder. What really counts is that Supershotgun's music has grown in stature, gaining in bite and effectiveness without losing its evocative power. That's what's most important: the simple, playful pleasure of letting your imagination and creativity run free, of transmitting this playful pleasure in a relaxed way... and of doing so with music that packs a punch. We've always known deep down: the best parties are those where everyone, young and old, has an assault rifle in hand and a few grenades to set the mood!
