I Wish I was a gun is aisle16’s third release on the prestigious (and not at all made up) aisland label and is their most accomplished to date. The four track EP, which was released to coincide with the Edinburgh run of Poetry Boy Band, features a poem from each of the boys, with production by Chris Hicks.

Despite its relatively short length- the whole thing clocks in at just over 18 minutes- the EP feels more substantial than previous releases; the ideas running through the tracks feel more fully developed; the vocals are layered and are fitted to the subtly twisted beats more closely than on previous efforts.

The Spandau Ballet-sampling, sarcastic slinkiness of the opener, Wright’s Embrace the Wank, sets a distinctly playful tone which is continued, albeit more ambiguously, by Sutherland’s Essex ’94: an up-tempo stomper, best described as ‘the thinking man’s Streets’. Britain’s First Paedophile Prime Minister, Stickley’s glowering paean to demonisation, sees his ‘crack-house Attenborough’ delivery set to a backdrop of swooping nursery rhyme loops and can’t be listened to after dusk. The finale, Hicks’ Silent Pylons, is a sepulchral yet skittery eulogy to electricity, and one of the best pieces of spoken word set to music that you’re likely to hear.

Wrap all that in the sinewy art-work of long-time collaborator Sam Ratcliffe and you have that rarest of poetry products; a CD that’s heavy on content but still highly listenable. And cheaper than a pint (at the Edinburgh fringe anyway).

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