A couple of years ago, in the early days of the pandemic, Ian Shelton, leader of powerviolence monsters Regional Justice Center, started a hook-centric and hardcore-adjacent new project called Militarie Gun. Very quickly, Militarie Gun became one of the most exciting new bands to come along in a long time. (We made them a Band To Watch last year.) To date, Militarie Gun have released three EPs, and they all kick ass. “Pressure Cooker,” Militarie Gun’s team-up with one-man Richmond garage-pop factory Dazy, might be the single best rock song of 2022 thus far. And today, Militarie Gun have dropped a John Lennon cover, which is not the sort of thing that most hardcore bands would attempt.

“Gimme Some Truth,” which Lennon released on the 1971 album Imagine, is one of Lennon’s protest songs; it calls out “short-haired yellow-bellied songs of Tricky Dicky” and features a guitar solo from Lennon’s ex-bandmate George Harrison. Militarie Gun’s cover is part of a split 7″ for the comic book What’s The Furthest Place From Here?, which includes a different split with the deluxe version of every issue. We’ve already heard the other side of Militarie Gun’s split: Hardcore warriors Gulch’s take on the Pixies classic “Monkey Gone To Heaven.” (Gulch, incidentally, are about to play their last-ever show at LA’s Sound & Fury Festival, and Militarie Gun are also in the bill.)

Militarie Gun’s take on “Gimme Some Truth” is hard and ragged, and it sounds a whole lot like a Militarie Gun song even though Lennon’s melodic voice still shines through. We still get a version of Harrison’s solo, which sounds a little different when it’s got an echoing Ian Shelton grunt over it. Here’s what Shelton had to say about the cover:

I’ve always felt a connection to this particular song, but I had never really intellectualized it. Once I started sending this cover to friends, people were pointing out that the things he’s singing about are the same stuff that I’m always talking about. My main gripe in life is typically contradiction and hypocrisy — whether it be from politicians or peers — I hate seeing someone’s mouth running but their actions doing the opposite.

Militarie Gun have shows coming up in Europe and North America, and they’re sharing bills with bands like Fiddlehead and Citizen. Below, check out their take on “Gimme Some Truth,” the John Lennon original, and those tour dates.

TOUR DATES:
07/30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Sound & Fury
08/09 – Darmstadt, Germany @ Oetinger Villa
08/10 – Hamburg, Germony @ Hafenklang
08/11 – Berlin, Germany @ Badehaus Berlin
08/12 – Cologne, Germany @ Helios 37
08/13 – Kingston, UK @ Fighting Cocks *
08/14 – Brighton, UK @ Green Door Store
08/15 – London, UK @ Underworld *
08/16 – Birmingham, UK @ Mama Roux’s *
08/17 – Bristol, UK @ Exchange *
08/18 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club *
08/19 – Manchester, UK @ Rebellion *
08/20 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo *
10/07-08 – Los Angeles, CA @ Regent Theater #
10/09 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall #
10/11 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater #
10/12 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile #
10/13 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre #
10/15 – Calgary, AB @ Commonwealth Bar & Stage #
10/16 – Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room #
10/18 – Winnipeg, MB @ Park Theatre #
10/20 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre #

* with Fiddlehead
# with Citizen, Prince Daddy & The Hyena, & Restraining Order

What’s The Furthest Place From Here #6, which comes with that split 7″, is out 11/6, and you can pre-order it from here. Issue #7 will include a split from Julien Baker and Sharon Van Etten.