Single Review: MC16 – Shoot ‘Em Up

Single Review: MC16 - Shoot ‘Em Up
Reviewed by Dan Barnes

I’ve been in the fortunate position of being able to hear MC16’s musical journey in real-time over the past couple of years and, with their debut full-length scheduled before the end of the year, the band have issued Shoot ‘Em Up as a single.

Returning to the subject matter of the military – so caustically targeted with Sleeping on Cardboard - the band now set their sights on those who would wage war for gain, whether that be personal, financial, or just plain ego.

Dissonant guitars take us into the first drum hits, giving the listener the feeling that something is out of kilter here, the combination of both instruments take on an air raid siren quality as Carson begins what sounds like a sales pitch with the opening line: “Consequences made to order…” before going on to considering the bravery of air command being out of range and firing missiles into civilian populations.

There’s no reference to which combat zone this is – but that’s the point – there doesn’t need to be a specific campaign, only that war is waged. The bridge into the second part of the verse finds Carson’s guitar laughing like a corpulent hyena, profiting from the millions of pounds spent on their munitions.

Duffy and Quinn drive the song into the singalong simplicity of its chorus: “Shoot ‘em up, shoot ‘em up…” The ‘Em in question being families who are accepted as merely collateral damage. The images of children being dragged from houses reduced to rubble, their lifeless, bloodied bodies a regular feature of the news cycle, something on the evening broadcast we consume with our egg and chips, no longer inciting shock or outrage.

The multi-layer vocals chant the shoot ‘em up mantra as though it were a prayer, while another voice proclaims: “enemy in sight”. Beggers the question of who is the enemy of whom? And why, with all the technological might and accuracy at their disposal, do rockets go so far astray so often.

With a minute to go, the track switches direction and the driving riff morphs into reggae, with scratchy guitar and echoing vocal track; the run out comes with the impassioned call that this is all for the “Love of war”.

Shoot ‘Em Up is another warning from MC16 of the perils of ceding our individuality to government agencies. Our towns are being homogenised by corporations in the pursuit of progress (United States of Generica); our seats of learning have become conditioning factories (Polytechnic), and we sit idly by as atrocities are committed in our name. Unless we wake up and say “No!” we are heading into fearful times.

It was always Punk’s remit to challenge authority and it’s heartening to see that flame still burns in the bellies of these musicians.

But the final say on this subject should come from one far more eloquent than I: “…war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact.” (George Orwell, 1984).