The Moses Gun - @ The GMan Tavern Sat 3/9/2019 @ 8:00 PM Chicago, Illinois

The Moses Gun reflect on loss and urgency on the power trio's bombastic "Triage"
On their new EP “Triage,” Chicago rock power trio The Moses Gun have dug deep into the vaults and brought to tape some nearly forgotten gems. The result is a bombastic 3 track EP that dwells on the themes of loss and urgency. Jesse Menendez spoke with singer / guitarist Vell Mullens about a series of very personal experiences that shaped this release. - Vocalo 91.1FM- Chicago Public Media

This scorching Chicago duo return for a proper full length release after generating a well deserved Midwestern buzz with their first EP. On their self-titled effort, The Moses Gun, bassist Rich Harris and guitarist/vocalist Vell Mullens, hone their sound into a cohesive yet bombastic assault, displaying greater subtly and dexterity than their previous work"..."If the Mayans are right about 2012, I want this one playing during our grand send-off - Jerseybeat.com

...The self-titled full length, released on Chicago’s DKT records, is high-energy. Metal riffs offset frantic power-chords; the high-end crackle on distorted guitars is mellowed by singer Vell Mullen’s voice, a guttural swell of emotion. The Moses Gun is like a timeline bent over itself and turned to a circle, bringing together rock sounds from the last 30-odd years into one pounding album. The album is heavy for the most part, though Mullen and bassist Rich Harris know dynamics. The soft melody and harmony on “Better Things” brings to mind Pinback instead of Bad Brains. - Heavemedia.com

The five songs on The Strobe Session EP create quite a clamor. The Moses Gun blends elements of noise into highly kinetic rock that could be labeled punk if they were not so skilled at their instruments. “Phlox”, like the closing “Million To One”, is a soaring, throbbing track that hits you repeatedly about the head for three minutes before giving way to the slower, thicker, jazz-tinged “Broken Neck”. This dichotomy of sound and styles makes The Moses Gun either brilliant or immensely frustrating, depending on your tolerance for experimentation. I happen to be enraptured by bands like this because their following is intentionally limited and selective. This is anti-mainstream music making and I have immense respect for acts of this ilk. The majority of the work here begins rather innocuously before erupting into something large and beastly. The instrumental “Ashley” follows this mold and the guitar riff is a wall of force before t quietly dissipates into more genteel playing before again rearing its forceful head. “Perfect Weather” breaks the mold a bit by launching itself at the listener before backing off slightly to allow the vocals to have the center stage. The Moses Gun takes traditional rock and stretches it into a multitude of directions, crafting something fun and unencumbered. Even when the lines “I want you, I need you” are uttered in “Perfect Weather”, they are delivered with a passion and a conviction that stops them from sounding stale. Of course, they are also juxtaposed with lines like “I remember pulling splinters from my hands” and “I remember getting high with you.” Some bands are just cool, and The Moses Gun fit that category.
- JerseyBeat.com

This is a good collection of interesting tracks full of flashbacks to everything from maybe Simon/Garfunkel meet Pearl Jam, on the "Intro" track, to the glory of heavy bass from Rush, on the '70s look back "The Ballad of Rueben Kincaid", yeah, remember the Partridge Family? If you had to compare them to anyone directly it would probably be Pearl Jam with tracks like "Jewelry Box" and "Stream of Consciousness", bringing out Mullens' early Eddie Vedder sound on vocals, without the hard edge of course. - SeaofTranquility.org

This five-song, 17-minute EP introduces a raw and messy sound...The Strobe Session can be an invigorating listen that sounds better with each subsequent, mind-fuzzed spin...awesome (and downright inspiring) guitar work - SeaofTranquility.org

One of the first skills any fledgling rock critic learns is to dismiss forthright any band’s alleged formula/recipe for how it crafted its sound: “We’re like the Beatles meet Led Zeppelin with a touch of the Monkees and a hint of Parliament-Funkadelic!” inevitably sounds like lame John Mayer (and yes, I know that’s redundant.) But the Chicago quartet the Moses Gun couldn’t help but pique my interest when bassist Rich Harris wrote to promise “a multicultural band that grew up listening to Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, Wu Tang and Husker Du…. sort of like an African-American Pixies, or Queens of the Stone Age.” And guess what? The band actually delivered it.

Former by Harris and guitarist-vocalist Vell Mullens in Wicker Park in the mid-’90s and completed by drummer John Marszalek and second guitarist Kudzai Kasambira, the group has certainly taken its time issuing a proper recorded debut. But a new demo showcased on its Web page (www.myspace.com/themosesgun) holds plenty of promise for an actual album or EP, from the martial grooves of the verses yielding to the anthemic indie-rock choruses of “Gold” to the tuneful hard rock of “Stream of Consciousness,” which brings to mind Living Color jamming with Dinosaur Jr. That’s the thing about formulas/recipes: It’s hard to stop once you get started.

- Chicago Sun-Times

It may not seem like the most obvious name for a band: Take obscure character actor Moses Gun and put “the” in front of his first name. Yet you have to admit: It does make for a fantastic band name.
Luckily for the band’s members, this isn’t all they have foing for them. Guitarist Vell Mullens met bassist Rich Harris in 1989 when they were growing up in a South Shore neighborhood.
“We got along because we saw eye-to-eye on music,” Harris says. “We were a couple of black guys from the South Side of Chicago listening to the Pixies and the Smiths.”
“I think we saw a Metallica concert together,” Mullens adds. “And basically we’ve been collaborating in one way or another ever since.”
This collaboration has taken them through more than a few projects and bands over the years.
“We’ve always had the same musical ideas,” Harris says. “Not to be different or cool-you just like what you like, and we wanted to do something with it rather than just be another hip-hop act.”
Mullens also thinks they made a serious step forward when they teamed up with drummer John Marszalek.
“We all bring different influences and different training,” Mullens says. “For instance, I learned how to play guitar from nuns in a Catholic school. I was playing ‘Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.’ Johnny’s just classic motor drumming and he brings a fire. The energy level has multiplied since he showed up.”
Mullens refers to the convergence of influences from the band’s three members, but this hardly does justice to the musical flexibility displayed by the band’s singles on their MySpace page. From the furious indie-rock of “Gold” to the reflective acoustic sound of “Better Things,” The Moses Gun demonstrates an admirable ability to expand the map when it comes to genre and form. This completely befits a band that cites as its influences Todd Rundgren, Raekwon and the Queens of the Stone Age in separate interviews.
Harris expresses his excitement but remains grounded about the future of the band.
“I don’t want to sound cliched,” he says, “but we’re about making cool art. We have an EP, we’re looking for financial backing, sure, but Vell and I have been collaborating since we were 12. The only difference now is that we got confidence.”
- RedEye - The Tribune Company

The Moses Gun unleashes a revved-up version of grunge on its self-titled EP. The trio mixes in other elements as well, especially on “Broken Neck,” which includes avant garde jazz amid its multiple tempo changes. “Ashley” is a spirited instrumental while “Perfect Wea-ther” serves as the band’s hard-edged version of romance - Illinois Entertainer

The set by The Moses Gun had its thrills and chills especially during its opening instrumental piece, Ashley...did enjoy the hardcore melodic vibe of their rock sound ...the intense rises and falls within the heart-pounding tempos. None of that was lacking during, Phlox, Crumble Away and closer Walk It Off. Moses made sure the audience was completely immersed into its rock music. Yet, it was the vocals where it truly mattered to vividly express the sentiments written inside the lyrics in which she felt the vocalist was holding back his truest, deepest feelings. This reviewer suggests getting more in tuned to the words to draw out the emotions. - Tanya Vega (Southside Of Chicago) Southsideonthetown.blogspot.com

In 2012, Chicago power trio the Moses Gun dropped a self-titled debut LP that reminded Gossip Wolf of early-90s classics by the likes of Nirvana and Local H, with a bit of Husker Du's breakneck punk urgency. A dip into the band's new digital EP, Triage, confirms that they're still pumping out tuneful, grungy burners. The Moses Gun celebrate with a release show at Quenchers on Thursday, July 27, with Nipple, Thom Simon, and Roarmen. - Gossip Wolf - The Chicago Reader-Sun-Times Media, LLC.

Chicago band The Moses Gun brings the noise in the best tradition of midwest Rock and Hardcore. The band packs more energy into three songs than some bands do in entire albums. Songs from band's new EP Triage are available in rotation and by request on CHIRP Radio - Chirpradio - Clarence Ewing