Mattiel Packs Heat on New Seven-Inch

Mattiel pulls the trigger on a fresh Double Cover 7-inch today, offering the singer and band’s potent renderings of a pair of disparate songs from decades past. At first glance, the Beastie Boys’ “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun” may seem like an odd choice for the Atlanta artist, but she and her boys rip out a faithful take on the Paul’s Boutique track that’s seriously fun and feisty. The Clash’s “Guns of Brixton” is more obviously in her wheelhouse, and the group decelerates the tempo a notch allowing Mattiel Brown’s extraordinary pipes to boom forth like a battalion of trumpets.

“Both Beasties and The Clash are an integral part of each band member’s musical influences,” states guitarist/producer Jonah Swilley. While shipping isn’t promised ‘til August, the record can be directly pre-ordered now through Bandcamp.

“After meeting Paul Simonon on the Jools Holland Show in 2018 we started playing ‘Guns of Brixton’ upon our bassist Travis’ request. Our tour manager, Pete, had the Beastie Boys book floating around the tour van last summer. We all started reading bits of history from their career and shared our collective interest in their story. Mattiel mentioned covering ‘Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun’…and then we hashed out the details at soundcheck. In early March of this year, we decided to cut studio versions of both,” Swilley recounts, before adding the requisite disclaimer: “It should go without saying that we do not condone gun violence.”