Gun Outfit :: Process and Reality
Photo: Joanne Kim
Since forming in Olympia, Washington, two decades ago, LA-based revolutionary rockers and supergroup gangsters Gun Outfit have become a spiritual staple among their prolific peers and creative contemporaries. Carefully combining the electrifying elements of pristine psychedelia with the ever-expanding tones of otherworldly whispers, the band has become a cult favorite in the hazardous hills and vibrant valleys of Los Angeles and beyond. With the release of their debut on the Carrboro, North Carolina-based label Paradise of Bachelors, “Dream All Over”, which also marks the epic entry of captain of the cosmos, Henry Barnes, the genius behind all things Amps For Christ, and the serene sounds of 2017’s “Out Of Range”, the band returns to the atmospheric airwaves after a well deserved break from the polarizing production culture of America with their long-awaited double LP “Process and Reality”. The album was captured and self-recorded by the band over the course of a month on a radical ranch in Pine Flat in the Sierra Nevada foothills of eastern Fresno County back in 2020, if you recall those tumultuous times, simultaneously, while over 4 million acres, more than four percent of the state's roughly 100 million acres of land, burned over the course of a year. The 2020s need no further introduction or eager exploration as the dark, twisted times we’ve all endured continue to unravel as some Rod Serling fever dream told through the legendary lens of the Twilight Zone, but there’s always hope. Hope is music dressed in captivating clothes strutting down the soulful streets of your creative consciousness, while taking the time to conjure spells that eventually become songs. Hope is cracking the creative code that allows you atmospheric access into the harmonies of the heart, like a grandparent giving you money for your favorite candy or comic book at the local drugstore.
Photo: Joe DeNardo
“Process and Reality” takes the ballistic bull by the horns and braves its stupid strength all the way to the end before breaking through the cautious china shop awkwardly placed at the end of the street as if some Looney Tunes moment was about to take place. Inspired by the English mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, who wrote the book “Process and Reality” in 1929, in which the author propounds a philosophy of organism, also called process philosophy, the album ultimately balances the tones of trauma with the experimental efforts of the band’s creative core by finding a way to conquer the artistic ache that dwells within us all. Featuring nineteen tracks, Gun Outfit and its members, Dylan Sharp, Carrie Keith, Henry Barnes, Daniel Swire, and Kayla Cohen, who joined the group just before the album’s conception, are joined by an all-star cast of players, such as the great Chris Cohen, Warren Lee, Danny Sasaki, and several others to help bring the metaphysical messages to the surface for all to hear, and feel its radiating rapture on the senses. Set for release May 8th on the London-based label, and live music promotion company Upset! The Rhythm, the band embraces perhaps their greatest effort yet, but who's to say when an oscillating organism such as Gun Outfit comes to town? They keep getting better, and better over the years, like a weird whiskey.
