Stargunn The Only Way Up Is Down - Part One (The Electric Banana, A Recording Company) Bonanzaradio.com July, 2001 Artist site: www.stargunn.com See also: www.gettingitmade.com

Stargunn The Only Way Up Is Down - Part One In a word, Stargunn is RAWK. Real AW-yeah Kickass. Right-on And Waylon's Kid. Rockin', Awesome Wild and Krazy. Rakish, Addictive Whiplash Kineticism. Red-hot, Ambitious, Wailin' Kahunas. Racy Archangels of Wanton Keepin-it-realness. Refreshing As Whisky Koolaid. Stargunn is the best band Axl Rose never started. Led by Shooter Jennings, the 22 year-old son of classic country artist Waylon, Stargunn are true blue southern-tinged rock and roll with a real songwriter's streak and plenty of sassafrass kick-ass. Torn jeans, cool shades, boots, belt buckles - straight-ahead whoopin' it up is these boys. Their debut release, "The Only Way Up Is Down - Part One" is a solid seven tracks of songs with real spit, solid arrangements that include great vocal harmonies, piano, tambourines, and of course plenty of geetawr. Ranging from the blatant balls-out headbangers like "Mustangs And Camaros" and "Sex & Drugs" to the more downtempo "Nikki Stargunn" and "Sunset Boulevard," this disc is a great display of the range Shooter and his boys have to offer. Perhaps he hung out with Charlie Daniels as a kid, leading to the low-spoken storytelling vocal running under "Voices Inside"? Produced by Shooter himself, the recording quality of "The Only Way Up Is Down" belies its independent status. The arrangements are full, the tracks plentiful, the recording professional - the songs leap equally well from car speakers and the stage (Stargunn live is a blast). This is definitely a fleshed out record, not simply a demo of songs they happened to work out in practice. The backing vocals on "Nikki Stargunn" by Becky Robertson and Laurie Anne Gaitan have a bring-the-house-down very tasty flair. Stargunn is a healthy combination of their Tennessee and Texas roots with southern California-ness in the mix. Their true country roots steer them clear of Hollywood hair band-ness, but they still keep the Sunset Strip hip-shimmy swagger in full force. Shooter's influences seem plentiful; Dad is in there, as are the aforementioned Axl and Daniels. But there are also tinges of artists as disparate as Elton John in his piano work, with flavorings of Bon Jovi, Black Crowes, The Cult, and early Rolling Stones turn up as well. None are so blatant to be distracting; Stargunn is pleasantly underivative of any single one. Currently playing frequently in and around L.A., Stargunn will have a track featured on the soundtrack to the upcoming movie "Made," starring Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, due in theaters July 20th. Tom Morello, most recently guitarist for Rage Against The Machine, remixed the hidden "The Only Way" eighth track, "Katwalk." The soundtrack album will also feature tracks by De La Soul and DJ Quick, and will hit streets July 10th via Redline Entertainment.