In the last eight years, they’ve released just two albums to date, Unicorn marking their third album and, unsurprisingly, it’s just as jam-packed with features from across the musical spectrum as ever. It’s also a massive undertaking, asking for just over an hour of your time which is a big ask; the good news is, that Gunship mostly justify the runtime, but there’s definitely room to trim back some of their more egregious excesses.
It makes a strong start with ‘Monster In Paradise’, a cinematic sprawl of pounding 80s pop beats and melodies. It features Wargasm’s Milkie Way, who trades vocal lines with Alex Westaway throughout to electrifying effect. There’s also contributions from legendary drummer Dave Lombardo and Tyler Bates, in a star-studded opener to the album that’s anthemic and easy dancefloor fodder. ‘Tastes Like Venom’ is another solid floorfiller, but it feels like it’s lacking some oomph, or perhaps just the star-studded remainder of Unicorn’s other opening songs overshadow it.
It’s followed by ‘Empress of the Damned’, a glitching, pulsing anthem fuelled by the high, airy voice of Canadian electropop star Lights. It’s not just her voice though, that propels the song but the appearance of some downright glorious saxophone midway through for a, dare we say it, sexy solo. It’s impossible not to bop to, a glaring, neon-drenched synth banger that’ll lodge itself firmly in your skull. ‘Tech Noir’ finally gets a sequel too, with ‘Tech Noir 2’ bringing Charlie Simpson back to team up with his Fightstar bandmates alongside John Carpenter. He brings a crooning, sultry alt-rock mood to the song that fits in wonderfully.
Of course, there’s plenty of saxophone; it’s more prominent in some songs than others, especially the aforementioned ‘Empress of the Damned’ and late album sleeper hit ‘Nuclear Date Night’ where alongside a bluesy solo, there’s some downright stunning hooks that’ll leave grins plastered across faces in jazzy ecstasy. Let’s get this out the way though – Unicorn is so front-loaded it’s not even funny. ‘DooM Dance’ features the horror-loving Carpenter Brut and Bush’s Gavin Rossdale for something that wouldn’t be out of place on Leather Terror, while HEALTH crop up on a storming ‘Blood For the Blood God’ that demands your attention. Unfortunately, once you’re past the halfway mark, songs start to bleed into each other and it’s just too much.
At over an hour, Gunship are asking for a lot of your time with Unicorn, especially when its second half is truly trounced by its exemplary first half. ‘Lost Shadow’ and closer ‘Postcard From the American Dream’ are arguably the worst for this, two ballads packed next to each other at the tail end that, instead of closing things with a bang, mean it’s more of a whimper. If Unicorn had dropped 2-3 songs or tightened up some of its song lengths – that frequently spill over four or five minutes – it’d be unmissable. It’s still well worth some time, just perhaps not an entire hour.