Full of organic energy and raw passion, Sohodolls’ soaring and searing “Bang Bang Bang Bang (Kill The Gun)” is an updated version of the London band’s smash hit that takes a powerful stand against gun violence.
“Bang Bang Bang Bang (Kill The Gun)” – Sohodolls
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Teenage kids and Sohodolls, they make you want to cry…
If we’re being honest and not rewriting history, Sohodolls’ “Bang Bang Bang Bang” was a sleeper hit.
Released off the English band’s 2007 debut album Ribbed Music for the Numb Generation, the original cut was dark, seductive, and conniving: A perfect blend of Sohodolls’ moody, brooding electronica, their indie/alternative glitz, and their cavalier punk attitude.
And it was a deep cut – one that was well received by fans, but definitively lurked in the shadows of album singles like “Stripper” and “No Regrets,” which had been heavily pushed in advance of its release, and were far more likely to be heard on a British radio station.
Of course, none of that context matters to the TikTok generation, who discovered “Bang Bang Bang Bang” over a decade after its initial release when a video of Madonna’s daughter dancing to the track spurred a viral trend. A stint on the Billboard Top 50 and over 100 million Spotify streams reignited Sohodolls’ spark and brought the band, who had disbanded in the mid-2010s, back together – and rest is history still in the making. In addition to various remasters and remixes of their early material, the group have released a slew of new original songs in the 2020s, including the invigorating “Period,” the empowering and impassioned “Letter to My Ex (Thank You, Goodbye)” (which Atwood premiered last October), and the hot n’ gritty “Bad,” a feverish blues rocker dripping with edge and swagger.
Sohodolls have without a doubt made the most of their band’s reunion and “rediscovery,” capitalizing off the recent successes of their sleeper hit while seeking to redefine themselves so as to capture their present sound: They’re a much different group of people, with a broader spectrum of interests and musical influences, than they were sixteen years ago, and how better to express that maturity and growth than through a re-write and re-recording of their very own modern classic? Full of organic energy and raw passion, Sohodolls’ soaring and searing “Bang Bang Bang Bang (Kill The Gun)” is an updated version of the London band’s smash hit that takes a powerful stand against gun violence. Radiant, emotionally charged, and as catchy as ever, it’s a fresh take on the song that ostensibly saved this band’s career and gave them their second wind.
Teacher says that I’ve been naughty
I must learn to concentrate
But the girls they pull my hair
And with the boys, I can’t relate
Daddy says I’m good for nothing
Mama says that it’s from him
Manic sister thinks I’m cracking
Brother says it’s in my genes
Don’t you want to?
Don’t you want to be the one?
Don’t you want to?
Bang, bang, bang, bang…
Don’t you want to?
Don’t you want to kill the gun?
Don’t you want to?
Bang, bang, bang, bang…
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Bang Bang Bang Bang (Kill The Gun),” a brand new version of Sohodolls’ angsty and inspiring song (produced by Otabek Salamov). Brighter and slightly slower than its original counterpart, this update sees the Sohodolls of the 2020s covering their noughties-era selves and injecting more light into what was once a world full of darkness. Where there was once a heavy, thick, all-consuming bass guitar and cold drums, there is now a radiant mix of acoustic and electric guitars and a warmer, bolder, and brighter percussion section.
And importantly for the band, where once the chorus line read, “Don’t you want to hold the gun?,” the lyric now reads, “Don’t you want to kill the gun?” It’s a subtle, but important change that ever-so-slightly redefines and clarifies the meaning of the song, both for the public as well as for Sohodolls’ very own Maya von Doll, Weston Doll, Paul Stone, and Joe Lyons.
So we put on our eyeliner
And a bit of glitter dust
Life at night is always finer
Neon streets are full of lust
Teenage kids and Sohodolls
They make you want to cry, ay-ay
Like my superstar, they fall
Some will be alright
“I changed the lyrics from “hold the gun” to “kill the gun” to make my standpoint clearer,” von Doll tells Atwood Magazine. “I’ve always been against guns. After ‘BBBB’ went viral, I could see some confusion with some people believing it was a song about school shootings, and that’s not what it’s about at all and I didn’t want people to carry that narrative nor think I was glorifying guns. I was slightly referencing Kurt Cobain’s suicide, but mostly because I was so shocked and saddened by what happened as Nirvana was such a big part of my youth.”
Don’t you want to?
Don’t you want to be the one?
Don’t you want to?
Bang, bang, bang, bang…
Don’t you want to?
Don’t you want to kill the gun?
Don’t you want to?
Bang, bang, bang, bang…
“The song is actually about being a misfit and finding your tribe,” she explains. “I wrote this song when I was a teenager feeling like I didn’t quite fit in with any of the cliques at school, but I started going out in Soho and meeting all these wonderfully different people. Even though I’ve always been anti-guns, I wanted to update the spirit for the times we’re living in now where you have to be clearer about what you stand for. I do think gun ownership is a bad idea.”
We often speak of the youth being a wellspring of energy and vitality, but Sohodolls’ 2023 update has more power, passion, and charisma than its predecessor.
It’s a tribute to all skills and refinements we gain over time; Maya von Doll sounds twice as good (and just as angsty) as she did back in 2007, and her band mates sound equally more self-assured in their respective performances as well. “Bang Bang Bang Bang (Kill The Gun)” is a spirited, cathartic release highlighting Sohodolls’ evolution, as well as their strengths as a band today. With this track’s release – which follows a “neoclassical” version of “Bang Bang Bang Bang,” recorded with Power-Haus and Tom Evans and released just last week – we hope to see Sohodolls continue their march onward and upward, and perhaps finally give Ribbed Music for the Numb Generation the sophomore follow-up it’s long deserved.
For now, stream “Bang Bang Bang Bang (Kill The Gun)” exclusively on Atwood Magazine.
Does tomorrow grow your sorrow
In the hollow of your heart?
Sunlight falls onto his eyes
But he don’t stir or turn
Messages on the answerphone
But none will be returned
Monday morning, lousy morning
What a day to see
In the evening I will hear it on the BBC
Don’t you want to?
Don’t you want to be the one?
Don’t you want to?
Bang, bang, bang, bang…
Don’t you want to?
Don’t you want to kill the gun?
Kill the gun kill the gun
Don’t you want to?
Bang, bang, bang, bang…
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“Bang Bang Bang Bang (Kill The Gun)” – Sohodolls
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© Catherine Harder
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