GLASGOW rockers Gun are launching their storming acoustic tour of Scotland in Irvine later this month.

The news came as the band released a brand new version of their seminal single Word Up last week.

It’s the latest track to be cut from their upcoming album: ‘The Calton Songs’ (out 14 October, via Cherry Red Records) and arrives ahead of intimate acoustic shows around the UK this August.

Originally covered by GUN in 1994, this massive track saw the band win an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Cover and featured on their Top 5 album ‘Swagger’. The song itself is, of course, a retooled version of the evergreen Cameo hit from 1986.

The band are beginning their acoustic tour at Irvine’s Harbour Arts Centre on August 12 before embarking on a string of fully fledged electric gigs later in the year.

The new version of “Word Up” is a totally different beast to the one that the fans know so well, boosted by the vocal talents of Beverley Skeete & The Sisterhood [Noel Gallagher, The Chemical Brothers, Mick Jagger] and phenomenal brass provided by The Selecter.

The band are describing it as the “Word Up Summer Jam”.

Guitarist Jools Gizzi said: “When the pandemic hit we realised that it was the perfect time to try and counteract the bleakness that was all around. IOut of that darkness came a desire to completely rework these songs that we know the fans love, and bring a different, stripped down vibe.”

Tickets available from the Harbour Arts Centre box office.