REVIEWS: Tailgunner Record Store Day double album

“I got kicked out of the band … fired by me best mate.” Noel Gallagher.

Tailgunner were formed in 2000 with Mark Coyle on guitar/vocals, Paul Stacey on bass and a certain Noel Gallagher on drums. The project was the brains of renowned sound technician Mark Coyle who worked with many of Manchester’s elite throughout the 80s including The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and more notably with Oasis in the early 90s.

Mark played a large part in the production of two of the greatest albums of the 90s. Oasis debut Definitely Maybe and Michael Head and The Strands.

Living for Real is a compilation of Tailgunner’s self-titled debut album released released in 2000 and their second unreleased album Bread or Blood. These 15 tracks showcase Mark’s unique underrated talent as a musician and songwriter. Kicking off on side A with Living For Real sounding like a close cousin of Stone Roses b side Ride On with a dirge of thick guitars, juicy sticky bass lines and the Ringo-esque drum pattern, Undercover follows this similar pattern before Blow Up reminds of the 90’s alternate guitar return of Depeche Mode Barrel Of A Gun.

Further highlights include Coming Back Home sounding like a close relation to Married With Children; How Do You Feel breathes a similar air to John Martyn with a fleeting tone aka Fleetwood Mac Immediate Records 60’s smash Man of the World; Deadly Man dons a cap towards prime john Masics Dinosaur Jr. Side B has a gentler acoustic vibe across the compositions; Step Aside sounds perfect a duet with Elizabeth Fraser; Lay Your Arms Down has some wise words for this season of wars and rumours of wars ‘get assistance with love’; Free Falling delves into some superb psych Beatles twiddlings, whilst the final hurrah or Fever harks back to the self-titled debut loud My Bloody Valentine feedbacks.

Released on 12.4.2025 Record Store Day via a 2 x Coloured Vinyl set, this is not only a must for any Oasis fan, it’s also for anyone looking for abundant unknown albums created by one of the great modern day producers.

Spotify links to the 2 albums are also available here