This Town Needs Guns Announce Name Change

Just a day after the release of their latest album, Oxford-based noisemakers This Town Needs Guns have announced a (slight) change in name.

The band, whose second album - and first with new vocalist Henry Tremain - ‘13.0.0.0.0’ was out on Monday (21st January) via Sargent House (read our review here), have explained their decision to drop all but the capital letters and be known as ‘TTNG’ from now on in a statement. And unsurprisingly it cites current events Stateside as a reason.

They said:

‘Over the years, many of you have asked where the band name comes from. As a band originating in Oxford, UK, ‘This Town Needs Guns’ was simply a name chosen by a group of friends wanting to make music together. At the time, this name was not considerd particularly offensive and indeed was an ironic statement given the setting of such a historic and cultural city as Oxford.

Context plays a big part in the way a band name such as ‘This Town Needs Guns’ may be perceived. In the UK, guns are not present. Ordinarily, our police force do not even carry guns. Within this context, an idea such as a town needing guns seems too absurd to be taken seriously.

However, eight years on, things have changed. With our music now finding new cultures, the irony of the name is no longer implicit. Also, in light of the controversy over gun ownership in the US as well as tragic shootings there and elsewhere in the world, we want to distance ourselves from a band name which we are now uncomfortable with.

We hope this change of name doesn’t disappoint anyone. It is the music that is important, not the name. As Shakespeare’s Juliet said “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.’’

As CoS report, the name change doesn’t affect the new album’s artwork or listings, or those of anything released previously - just anything the band do from now onwards.

The band are due to head out on tour across mainland Europe later this month alongside Nate Kinsella’s solo project, Birthmark, beginning in Paris on 31st January.

Those dates are:

JANUARY
31 Paris Les Combustibles

FEBRUARY
1 Bielefeld AJZ
2 Dortmund FZW
3 Hamburg Astra Stube
5 Copenhagen Basement Show
6 Stockholm Kulturhuset Lava
7 Oslo Kamen Bistro
8 Kristiansand Pir 6
9 Copenhagen BETA
10 Prague Klub 007
11 Giessen Muk Gießen
13 Berlin Marie Antoinette
14 Leipzig Werk II
15 Aachen Musikbunker
16 Enschede The Loch
17 Leuven Room 66