Blair Gun - Blaspheme Queen (2023)

Last fall, Blair Gun introduced their driving take on punk with their lead single “Lemondrops,” a blood-pumping blend of basement-show energy and angsty lyricism. It wasn’t long afterward that they announced it would open their debut album Blaspheme Queen, a 12-track affair expanding on that sound as it weaves in and out of adjacent genres most commonly reverting to elements of post-punk.

While “Lemondrops” introduces the record with shades of Titus Andronicus’ bar-band vigor (complete with Patrick Stickles’ vocal tremors), as the band tells it, their influences are more aligned with ’90s alternative rock. With Bends-era Radiohead serving as inspiration for some of these tracks’ melodies, the shadow of Pixies vocalist Frank Black’s solo material looms heavily over vocalist Joedin Morelock’s delivery of tracks such as “Genovese.” Meanwhile, guitarist Zach Cavor invites us to spot the botched Neutral Milk Hotel homage in “Andrew Savage”—a track lovingly titled in reference to the Parquet Courts frontman.

“Bennet” is about a man that I met online. After years of making music and seeing no progress, no fans, no attention, he was making all these posts about giving up on his dreams and his feelings of defeat. It really touched me on a profound level because he reflected a lot of my own personal fears at the time, and the fears of a lot of people that are pursuing a career in the arts [have]. We wrote it in a day and second guessed ourselves for about a year before finally recording it—and it’s since become a fan favorite.