Calling your band Gunslingers is just asking for a world of trouble. Failure to deliver the badassery it implies practically guarantees ridicule. But if Supreme Asphalt Doser is anything to go by, trouble is just what this French power trio (which broke up in 2012) wanted.
“We’re The Real Sinners” proclaims the first of the LP’s seven tracks, and while it took a decade for this music to make it from four-track to vinyl, the song certainly sounds like Gregory Ramo, Antoine Hadjioannou and Matthieu Canaguier were in a hurry to get to hell. On “Real Sinners,” Ramo sings like he’s ready to push Iggy out of the Stooges, and his guitar sounds like it’s making up new cuss words. Advance a couple tracks and his lashes of feedback are quick enough to lasso a rattlesnake mid-strike. Canaguier’s bass and Hadjioannou’s drums drive fast enough on side-ender “Detuned For Cheap” to stay neck and neck with High Rise.
The energy doesn’t let up on side two, but high-energy rock ‘n’ roll isn’t all that Gunslingers have to offer. On “Rebop From Arthur Lipsett’s Fluxes,” a collage of dialogue taken from b-movie soundtracks amps up the chaos and creepiness. Yeah, these guys earn their hyperbole.
—Bill Meyer
