It took less than three years for James And The Cold Gun to go from a garage in Cardiff, Wales — where the band’s co-founders, James Joseph and James Biss, recorded their debut album — to Hyde Park supporting Pearl Jam.

That sort of explosive growth is mirrored in the band’s music: a loose, loud sound that evokes the glory days of 1990s alt-rock, back when electric guitars ruled the airwaves. James And The Cold Gun’s self-titled debut album nods to that era, but it’s a defiantly modern record, too, reclaiming the sounds of the past for a world in desperate need of a little amplification.

“We’re massive rock fans,” says frontman James Joseph. “If you look at 90% of the bands on rock playlists right now, though, they don’t always sound like rock. You can barely hear a guitar, and everything is super polished. We found ourselves wanting to hear new music that had the guts to keep things messy and as real as possible, so we made it ourselves.”

The band came together in a Cardiff garage, which doubled as a rehearsal space and makeshift recording studio. “We went into that garage and rediscovered our passion for playing music,” says James Joseph, who had previously spent six years performing with the post-hardcore band Holding Absence before teaming up with Biss. “We weren’t thinking too hard about an angle; we just wanted to make guitar-based rock music that our 15 year-old selves would’ve enjoyed listening to, like the first Foo Fighters record or Queens of the Stone Ages’ Songs For The Deaf. We didn’t overthink any of it.”

What began as a two-man project, rooted in the shared songwriting talents of Joseph and Biss, quickly grew into a proper band featuring instrumentalists like Jack Wrench, Peter Smith, and Al Jones. With a newly expanded lineup, James And The Cold Gun hit the road, opening for European acts like Therapy? and The Wildhearts. Meanwhile, the band’s debut single, “She Moves,” became a viral hit, introducing audiences far beyond Wales to James And The Cold Gun’s mix of sharp songwriting and furious, high-volume performances. The momentum continued with False Start, an EP whose final track, “Long Way Home,” found its way onto American radio in 2022. Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard came across the song while listening to KEXP in Seattle. Impressed, he signed the band to his revitalized label, Loosegroove Records, and gave them a new assignment: to record a full-length album in the same garage that had hosted their first band practice.

“Stone listened to our demos and liked the way our homemade recordings sounded,” says Joseph. “That was exciting, because it opened up the possibility that we could make this album ourselves. I come from the punk scene and have always resonated with that do-it-yourself mentality.”

Joseph and Biss got to work, turning their collaboratively-written songs into proper recordings. Their drummer, Jack Wrench, chipped in, recording drums in his own home studio. Even so, the bulk of the work took place in Biss’ garage, and the process wasn’t always easy. The punky, pissed-off stomp of “Chewing Glass” was inspired by a temporary case of writer’s block. “We were four or five songs into the record and feeling pretty burnt out,” Joseph recalls. “It was starting to feel like a slog until I had the idea of trying to write a song for people who, like us, were going through a tough spot.” With its crashing cymbals and cascading power chords, “Chewing Glass” became a metaphor for persistence, delivered by a young band eager to to take their shot at the brass ring. Equally electrifying was “My Silhouette,” an anthemic rocker inspired by the dangers of comparing oneself to others. Meanwhile, “Grey Through” found room for acoustic guitars and seasick vocal harmonies, while “Cheating on the Sun” explored the middle ground between grunge, psychedelia, and rock & roll grandeur.

Together, those songs show the full range of James And The Cold Gun’s debut album. Written and recorded by two Welsh songwriters grappling with the onset of adulthood, it’s a raw, reflective album: a coming-of-age exploration of the human condition, with introspective lyrics that pack the same amount of fury and firepower as the band’s overdriven guitars. This is alternative rock music for the garage and the arena alike.