After spending a year winning the hearts of the local punk underground with their DIY attitude and boisterous, bratty charm, the second half of 2019 had Gutter Girls fall uncharacteristically quiet, as vocalist/guitarist Iso Buckley left Melbourne for some time abroad. It turns out the down time (or alone time perhaps?) wasn't lacking in inspiration though, because the girls are back with their first new music in almost a year and ‘The Bullet’ might be Gutter Girls’ most thrilling song yet.

After opening with some unexpected whirs from the track’s namesake, ‘The Bullet’ burst into a propulsive groove, instantly picking up a frantic pace as the layers of fiery guitar and synth tangle over machine-gun drums and a grimy bass. While the instruments sprawl, Iso emerges with her commanding yelp, her lyrics just audible over the frenzy of noise that spirals around her - and from what we can make out, the bullet sounds pretty neat.

We’re well in the mood as the girls blast through a couple of irreverent choruses and a bridge that’s made to be fist-pumped along with, before ‘The Bullet’ rockets into a haphazard synth solo and races to the finish line. It’s over almost as quickly as it started, but it’s safe to say that ‘The Bullet’ easily gets the job done.