Face in the Mirror

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 performing at Hyde Park in support of Pearl Jam & Guns N’Roses. That kind of explosive growth is reflected in the band’s sound: a loose, loud energy that channels the glory days of 1990s alt-rock, when electric guitars ruled the airwaves. Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard heard the track on KEXP in Seattle, and after being impressed, he signed the band to his revitalized label, Loosegroove Records.