Pete Loeffler’s voice has a way of sounding like it’s fraying at the edges right before it snaps into a roar. You know the sound. It’s that precise, melodic tension that defined the 2000s post-grunge era. But when Chevelle Take Out the Gunman hit the airwaves in 2014, it wasn't just another radio banger. It felt heavier. Not just in the tuning of the guitars, but in the air around it.
People reacted. Some people flinched.
It’s a song about a shooter. Or is it? Honestly, the track is one of the most layered pieces of songwriting the Loeffler brothers have ever put to tape, yet it often gets lumped in with generic "hard rock" playlists without a second thought. If you actually sit with the lyrics of La Gárgola, the album this track anchors, you realize the band wasn't just trying to be edgy. They were trying to process a cultural anxiety that hasn't gone away. If anything, it’s gotten louder.
The Story Behind the Lyrics
Chevelle has always been a bit cryptic. They aren't the kind of band to give you a "Behind the Music" play-by-play for every verse. However, Pete Loeffler was relatively transparent about the origins of this one. The song was written in the wake of several high-profile mass shootings that dominated the news cycle during the early 2010s. It’s a dark subject.
Basically, the song explores the paradox of media coverage.
When you look at the lines, "To the ones who know / It's a long way down," Pete is tapping into that specific brand of isolation that precedes a breaking point. It’s not an endorsement. It’s a perspective. The track focuses on the chaos of the moment—the "gunman" as a figure of terror and the immediate, visceral desire for that threat to be neutralized.
The title itself, "Take Out the Gunman," is almost uncomfortably direct. It sounds like a command.
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But here’s where it gets interesting: the song also critiques the way we consume these tragedies. We watch. We refresh the feed. We make the perpetrator a household name while the victims become statistics. Chevelle was nudging at that weird, parasitic relationship we have with televised violence. It’s a "monster" record on an album literally named after a gargoyle—a stone protector that looks like a demon. The imagery isn't accidental.
Musicality and the Baritone Growl
Let’s talk about that riff. It’s thick.
If you play guitar, you know Chevelle loves their baritone setups and drop-tunings. They managed to make a three-piece band sound like a wall of falling bricks. Dean Bernardini’s bass work on this track is particularly filthy. He provides this sliding, oily texture that sits right under Pete’s choppy guitar work. It doesn't sound "clean." It shouldn't.
Sam Loeffler’s drumming on the track is deceptively simple. He’s not overplaying. He’s providing a steady, almost industrial heartbeat that allows the vocal melody to soar.
The production on La Gárgola, handled by Joe Barresi, shifted the band away from the polished, radio-ready sheen of Sci-Fi Crimes or Hats Off to the Bull. Barresi, known for his work with Queens of the Stone Age and Tool, leaned into the grit. You can hear the room. You can hear the pedals clicking. This raw approach is why "Take Out the Gunman" still sounds modern today. It doesn't have that dated 2014 "brick-wall" compression that killed so many other rock songs from that year.
Why the Song Faced Early Resistance
Radio programmers are notoriously skittish. When a song with the word "Gunman" in the title shows up on their desk, they worry about advertisers. They worry about timing.
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There was a moment where the song's momentum could have stalled. If a national tragedy had occurred the week of its release, it likely would have been pulled from rotation immediately. That’s the tightrope Chevelle walked.
Yet, the fans got it.
The song reached Number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. Why? Because it felt authentic. Rock fans are usually pretty good at sniffing out when a band is "chasing a headline" versus when they are actually bothered by something. This felt like the latter. It wasn't a "political" song in the sense of taking a side on legislation; it was an "emotional" song about the fear of the person standing next to you in a crowd.
The Legacy of La Gárgola
You can't really understand this song without looking at the album as a whole. La Gárgola was a pivot point. Before this, Chevelle was often compared to Tool—sometimes fairly, sometimes not. With "Take Out the Gunman," they leaned into a more cinematic, horror-influenced vibe.
- It’s darker.
- It’s slower in parts.
- The atmosphere is suffocating.
Songs like "Jawbreaker" and "An Island" share that same DNA. The band was moving away from the "angsty brother" dynamic of their early Wonder What's Next days and into something more atmospheric and, honestly, more mature. They stopped trying to write "The Red" and started writing whatever felt heavy at the time.
What most people get wrong about this era of Chevelle is thinking it was a departure. It wasn't. It was an evolution. They took the melodic sensibilities they perfected on Vena Sera and dragged them through the mud.
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Technical Breakdown for the Gear Heads
If you’re trying to nail that "Take Out the Gunman" tone, you’re going to need a few things. First, stop trying to use a standard guitar with 10-gauge strings. It’ll sound thin and floppy. Pete often uses PRS guitars, specifically his signature baritone models.
You need that 27.7-inch scale length to keep the tension when you’re tuned down to Drop B or lower.
Amps matter, too. Pete is a big fan of Diezel and Mesa Boogie. You want a high-gain sound that isn't "fizzy." It needs to be percussive. When you hit a palm-muted note in the verse, it should feel like a punch to the solar plexus. The "Take Out the Gunman" riff relies on the space between the notes. If your gain is too high, the notes bleed together and you lose that rhythmic "swing" that makes the song work.
How to Listen to Chevelle Today
In 2026, looking back at a track from 2014 might seem like a nostalgia trip. But the landscape of rock has changed so much—there are fewer "big" guitar bands left on the charts. Chevelle is a survivor.
They’ve outlasted most of their peers because they never became a caricature of themselves. They didn't start wearing costumes or chasing pop features. They stayed a three-piece band that plays loud, brooding music about uncomfortable things.
When you go back and listen to "Take Out the Gunman" now, try to ignore the radio edit. Listen to the full album version. Pay attention to the bridge. There is a moment where the music almost completely drops out, leaving Pete’s voice vulnerable before the final explosion. That’s the "human" element AI can’t replicate—the slight hesitation in the breath, the way the guitar string squeaks during a position shift.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Musicians
- Study the Dynamics: If you're a songwriter, analyze how the song uses "negative space." The silence is just as important as the noise.
- Check the Gear: Musicians should look into baritone guitars if they want this specific "heavy but clear" sound without the muddiness of a 7-string.
- Explore the Catalog: If this song is your only entry point, go back to Sci-Fi Crimes for the melody and move forward to NIRATIAS to see how they eventually incorporated space-rock themes.
- Listen Critically: Pay attention to the lyrical subtext. It’s a masterclass in writing about a sensitive topic without being "preachy" or "exploitative."
The track remains a staple of their live set for a reason. It hits hard, it asks uncomfortable questions, and it sounds massive. That’s about as much as you can ask from a rock song.