God Save The Gun by Militarie Gun

Militarie Gun God Save The Gun

80
ChoruScore
10 reviews
Oct 17, 2025
Release Date
Loma Vista Recordings
Label

Militarie Gun's God Save The Gun arrives as a bruising, hook-forward statement that turns personal ruin into arena-sized catharsis. Across professional reviews, critics point to songs like “B A D I D E A”, “I Won't Murder Your Friend” and the title cut “God Save The Gun” as the record's clearest emotional and sonic summits, while mid-album pieces such as “God Owes Me Money” and “Daydream” supply the album's biggest swings and quieter rewards. With an 80.1/100 consensus score from 10 reviews, the critical reception frames the record as a creative success that pushes the band's post-hardcore roots toward pop ambition without losing its urgent core.

Critics consistently note the tension between maximalist production and raw confession - stacked harmonies, synth flourishes and big choruses sit alongside lyrics about addiction, generational trauma and recovery. Reviewers praise the tracks that balance Shelton's aching vocal delivery with memorable hooks, naming “B A D I D E A” as an instant crowd-pleaser and “I Won't Murder Your Friend” as the album's hardest-hitting confession. Some critics register a trade-off: occasional studio excess and indulgent concept moments dilute the punk immediacy that once defined the band, yet those same choices enable the record's sweep and anthemic payoff.

Taken together, the consensus suggests God Save The Gun is worth seeking out for its standout songs and emotional directness - a record that both tests and expands Militarie Gun's identity, moving from hardcore grit toward anthemic, sometimes polarizing, rock grandeur. Below, the full reviews unpack where the album's hooks, heart and occasional excess land most effectively.

Critics' Top Tracks

The standout songs that made critics take notice

1

B A D I D E A

8 mentions

"I would bet the propulsive ranting punk of "B A D I D E A"...will also become a live staple"
Under The Radar
2

God Save The Gun

6 mentions

"the closer "God Save the Gun", a towering track that ends on "If you want to keep your life, gotta let it go"."
PopMatters
3

I Won’t Murder Your Friend

9 mentions

"it\'s the pivotal \'I Won\'t Murder Your Friend\' that takes the deepest of depression on head-first"
DIY Magazine
it\'s the pivotal \'I Won\'t Murder Your Friend\' that takes the deepest of depression on head-first
D
DIY Magazine
about "I Won’t Murder Your Friend"
Read full review
9 mentions
84% sentiment

Track Ratings

How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.

View:
1

Pt. II

6 mentions
34
00:20
2

B A D I D E A

8 mentions
100
01:49
3

Fill Me With Paint

6 mentions
51
02:35
4

Throw Me Away

7 mentions
89
03:11
5

God Owes Me Money

7 mentions
100
03:21
6

Daydream

6 mentions
97
02:50
7

Maybe I’ll Burn My Life Down

9 mentions
68
02:32
8

Kick

6 mentions
73
03:49
9

Laugh At Me

7 mentions
65
02:20
10

Wake Up and Smile

6 mentions
31
03:03
11

I Won’t Murder Your Friend

9 mentions
100
04:37
12

Isaac’s Song

6 mentions
25
00:56
13

Thought You Were Waving

6 mentions
73
02:59
14

God Save The Gun

6 mentions
100
03:13

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What Critics Are Saying

Deep insights from 11 critics who reviewed this album

Critic's Take

Militarie Gun's God Save The Gun finds its best tracks in the raw, unflinching centrepieces - “God Owes Me Money”, “Daydream” and “I Won't Murder Your Friend” - which turn autobiographical collapse into devastating clarity. Tipple's voice is direct and precise, noting the album splits into hedonism, realisation and processing, and it is on those tracks where Ian Shelton becomes protagonist, painfully honest and often heartbreaking. The reviewer highlights how upbeat moments like “Laugh At Me” and the new-wave emo sheen of “Thought You Were Waving” sharpen the record's contrasts, making the heavier cuts land harder. Overall, the best songs on God Save The Gun are the ones that trade bravado for vulnerability and payoff in moments of terse, emotional clarity.

Key Points

  • The best song is strongest because it confronts depression directly and ends with a fragile, hopeful resolution.
  • The album's core strengths are its candid exploration of addiction and its balance of upbeat melodies with brutal vulnerability.

Critic's Take

Militarie Gun deploy a relentless set of ginormous hooks on God Save The Gun, and the record's best songs - notably “Maybe I’ll Burn My Life Down” and “Throw Me Away” - prove why. Joshua Mills writes with the same breathless, vivid relish the band bring to its choruses, calling the former an "aural panic attack" and the latter a contender for chorus of the year. He praises the production's rumbling bass and sugary, jagged guitars that never fight for space, and singles out “Kick” as a colossal, melodic pop-punk-scaled triumph. The result is an album that thrills at full tilt yet still yields quieter, resonant moments like the closing title track.

Key Points

  • “Maybe I’ll Burn My Life Down” is the best for its bellows, choppy chords and sheer aural panic.
  • The album’s core strengths are enormous, instantly gluey hooks and maximalist production that still leaves room for vocals and quieter moments.

Themes

hooks maximalist production raw emotion suicidal ideation deglamorised big choruses

Critic's Take

Militarie Gun charge out of the gate on God Save The Gun with the propulsive rant of “B A D I D E A”, which feels destined to be one of the best tracks on God Save The Gun and a live staple. The record keeps delivering crowd-sized hooks - from the chanted hook of “Throw Me Away” to the stacked harmonies of “Maybe I’ll Burn My Life Down” - making these the standout songs and best tracks on God Save The Gun. Even quieter moments like “Daydream” and the bruised, lengthy “I Won’t Murder Your Friend” serve the album's themes, undercutting its big melodies with real pain. The closing title track, “God Save The Gun”, lands the record’s final, serene lesson and cements the album as the band’s most dynamic work yet.

Key Points

  • The propulsive opener "B A D I D E A" is the best song due to its spell-shouted chorus, barrelling low end, and live-staple potential.
  • The album’s core strengths are enormous hooks, anthemic arrangements built for crowds, and candid, bleak lyrics about addiction and self-destruction.

Themes

addiction self-destruction anthemic catharsis live energy

Critic's Take

The review frames the best tracks as moments where pop pedigree and raw hardcore emotion collide, making them the standout songs on God Save The Gun. The result is a record where the best songs turn personal wreckage into something anthemic and immediate.

Key Points

  • The album's core strength is balancing pop-influenced hooks with hardcore energy to make personal struggle feel anthemic.

Themes

self-destruction rebuilding addiction influence and homage pop-hardcore evolution

Critic's Take

Militarie Gun's God Save the Gun keeps the hooks front and center while confronting addiction and recovery, and the best songs - particularly “B A D I D E A” and “I Won't Murder Your Friend” - underline that balance. Stout's tone is admiring and urgent, noting how distorted drums and synth flourishes make “B A D I D E A” an immediate singalong, while the harrowing clarity of “I Won't Murder Your Friend” marks it as one of their best. The record's middle section, with tracks like “God Owes Me Money” and “Daydream”, supplies the biggest swings and emotional payoff, and the closer God Save the Gun leaves a cautiously hopeful aftertaste. This is an aggressive indie record with genuine heart that should yield answers to searches for the best tracks on God Save the Gun quickly and loudly.

Key Points

  • “I Won't Murder Your Friend” is the emotional high point for its unflinching depiction of suicidal ideation and haunting delivery.
  • The album's core strengths are its hook-writing and the balance between aggressive indie energy and candid explorations of addiction and recovery.

Themes

addiction recovery hooks vs. grim lyrics touring toll hope

Critic's Take

In a voice that marries hardcore bile with arena-sized melodies, Militarie Gun's God Save The Gun makes its case for best songs like “B A D I D E A” and “I Won’t Murder Your Friend” as the album's emotional and sonic peaks. The reviewer's tone is admiring and slightly exhausted, noting how “B A D I D E A” is the platonic Militarie Gun track while “I Won’t Murder Your Friend” carries the album's hardest-hitting confession. It praises the variety across the record - from the synth-tinged rush of “B A D I D E A” to the acoustic tenderness of “Laugh At Me” - and frames these as the standout moments that answer the question of best tracks on God Save The Gun.

Key Points

  • The best song is “B A D I D E A” because it crystallises Militarie Gun's arena-ready rush and introduces the album's synth expansion.
  • The album's core strengths are its blunt emotional honesty, variety of textures from punk to acoustic, and Shelton's ability to turn trauma into cathartic big-rock hooks.

Themes

self-destruction vulnerability catharsis hardcore to arena rock trauma

Critic's Take

Tom Morgan writes with brisk authority, praising Militarie Gun and the way God Save The Gun bristles with studio flourishes while still delivering big hooks. He singles out “God Owes Me Money” as perhaps their best-ever song, an emo-tinged anthem with a singalong chorus, and finds the self-titled closer and “Laugh At Me” equally terrific. He also flags tracks like “Maybe I’ll Burn My Life Down” and “B A D I D E A” as overstuffed experiments that sometimes misfire, but overall celebrates the band’s songwriting and newfound ambition.

Key Points

  • The best song, "God Owes Me Money", is the album’s emotional and melodic peak due to its unforgettable chorus and singalong hook.
  • The album’s core strengths are muscular songwriting and ambitious studio embellishments that heighten emotion, even when production occasionally overreaches.

Themes

studio embellishment anthemic hooks personal struggle post-hardcore fusion production excess vs. clarity

Critic's Take

On God Save The Gun, Militarie Gun lean inward, and the best tracks reveal that inward turn. “I Won’t Murder Your Friend” stands out as the bleeding, beating heart, where aching lyrics and a distorted crescendo crystallize the album's themes. “Maybe I’ll Burn My Life Down” captures an emotional breakdown with an avalanche of drums, while quieter moments like “Daydream” provide clarifying acoustic respite. These songs are the best tracks on God Save The Gun because they fuse raw confession with catchy, polished rock in a way that feels both healing and confrontational.

Key Points

  • “I Won’t Murder Your Friend” is best because it synthesizes the album's themes into a heartbreaking, cathartic centerpiece.
  • The album’s core strengths are its raw vulnerability, melodic infectiousness, and focused exploration of addiction and recovery.

Themes

addiction introspection vulnerability healing creative success

Critic's Take

Militarie Gun's God Save the Gun finds its best songs in the visceral, confessional cuts that wear their scars proudly. The reviewer's praise settles on “B A D I D E A” for its sub-two-minute burn and relentless repetition, and on “God Save the Gun” and “I Won't Murder Your Friend” for their anthemic, showstopping payoffs. The piece lauds the quieter catharses like “Daydream” and “God Owes Me Money” as gifts of candour, even as it admits a sloppy mid-album stretch.

Key Points

  • The best song is the visceral “B A D I D E A”, a concise burner that uses repetition to embody addiction.
  • The album's core strengths are candid lyricism about addiction and trauma, and a balance of confessional vocals with anthemic rock dynamics.

Themes

addiction generational trauma catharsis evolution vs. punk roots survival
61

Critic's Take

Ian Cohen hears Militarie Gun reaching for pop hits on God Save the Gun, proclaiming “B A D I D E A” the hookiest song of 2025 while lamenting that once-punchy aggression has softened. He singles out “Fill Me With Paint” and “I Won't Murder Your Friend” as places where the band simmers rather than smashes, tying these shifts to themes of addiction, recovery, and self-flagellation. The reviewer frames the record as an indulgent concept effort that admires Beatles-style harmonies and synth strings yet often loses the hardcore tether that made earlier songs punchy. This makes the best tracks on God Save the Gun those that balance Shelton's vocal ache with memorable hooks, notably “B A D I D E A” and “Fill Me With Paint”.

Key Points

  • The best song is “B A D I D E A” because Cohen calls it 'the hookiest song of 2025' and details multiple catchy production elements.
  • The album's core strengths are memorable hooks and a willingness to blend pop harmonies with themes of addiction and recovery.

Themes

addiction and recovery pop ambitions vs hardcore roots redemption and self-pity concept album indulgence