Ladies Gun Club’s first single is “Loaded Gun,” and if those words alone don’t hook you, you’ve probably been dead inside for so long that even a new Southern-rooted, gun-slinging, biscuit-making, ladies super duo can’t fix you. Sorry.
But Ladies Gun Club is far from a marketing ploy, in fact, it’s just the opposite: it’s the product of a chance meeting of two outstanding vocalists with a deep understanding and appreciation for music that’s as equally dark and haunting as it is hook setting.
Sally Jaye and Sarah Roberts both have credible solo careers, and they were cruising along fine without each other. Then one night a friend of Sally’s gave her a bit of a nudge and told her she really had to check out Sarah who was playing at the Hotel Café in Hollywood that night—like really had to go. Needless to say, she was blown away, and a series of events unfolded as naturally as they always do when things are supposed to happen, and before they knew it, Sally (from Georgia originally) and Sarah (from North Carolina originally) were in a studio together up in Laurel Canyon laying down their first EP as Ladies Gun Club.
There’s a litany of musical terms to describe when voices blend as well as Sarah and Sally’s, but they’re too stuffy and academic for music like this, and they’re really hard to spell. I suppose the go-to, easily relatable metaphor for it would be peanut butter and jelly, but let’s be honest, no one really gets that excited about pb&j, so let’s go with fried chicken and bacon, partially because I’m not sure a speedball reference is appropriate for this forum, and also because you know whenever you see bacon and fried chicken on the same plate, you’re about to eat two things that can only be topped by their combo
“Shari” is one of those songs that you’ll hit repeat on at least twice after listening to it, and then you’ll be humming it all day wondering why you can’t replicate the subtle yet infectious bounce it has.
The only way to describe “Country Girl” is Dolly Waits Jr. It may sound like a strange combo at first, and admittedly, the image of Dolly Parton and Tom Waits trying to make a baby is a bizarre, horrible, and disturbing blur of pasty flesh, whiskey, pills, and disappointment, but if they did manage to have a kid together, she would grow up and sing this song.
“Legs” is a song about Sally’s great aunt and second cousin who both were born with only one leg (one the right, and one the left), but it’s not just another one of those “boo-hoo my family doesn’t have enough legs” songs that have overrun the scene. It’s funny, frank, and true, and there’s definitely something Shel Silverstein going on with it.
Click here to stream “Loaded Gun” It was written by Brian Wright, but Ladies Gun Club made it their own.
