Towers Of London - 'Shot In The Dark' Single Review

The annuals of Music History is littered with bands, and especially Punk bands, that have burst onto the scene and imploded within their own hype and excess. Most do not come back stronger. Towers Of London courted controversy, and generally came off second best. So if all you know about the band is that Donny Tourette spent a few days in the CBB House before doing us all a favour and scaling over the wall, please suspend your disbelief for a few minutes. Everyone should be given the opportunity to redeem themselves and the new single ‘Shot In The Dark’, taken from their still to be released album ‘Super Sounds Of K Town’ sounds like the first few steps along the road to redemption.

Now under the management of Alan McGee, who knows a thing or two about the music business, this is a distinctly more mature sound. Life lessons learnt and the acknowledgement that you have hit the bottom before you realise what you want are the theme of this track.

The song starts with an instantly memorable guitar riff, which permeates throughout the track. The lyrics are powerful and seem autobiographical, reflecting on the past and looking forward to the future. The musical backing is positive, polished and will stay in your head, as all good tunes should.

I can imagine the instrumental being used on TV, and the song itself would not be out if place in a Rock Arena set. This song has a poignant message, which could have been, but is not, self- indulgent or pitying. The track oozes positivity and has a striking end. It would be a crying shame if people were to write this off due to the band and past misdemeanours. Donny hopefully muses ‘You lost me but I know you’ll find me’ which is a sublime lyric, given the message in the track. The song ends as it started with the lone guitar riff that has been driving it for the past 3 or so minutes.

Towers Of London seem to ask us to give them one last chance in this redemption song. I think they recognise that, given their history, it’s your choice. However, I think that if you don’t, then you will be losing out, as it is a great track. So go on give it a try, because I will take a ‘Shot In The Dark’ and predict that if this is an indication of the quality of the new album, then ‘Super Sounds Of K Town’ will be one that you will want to add to your collection. I know I will.