The Gun Club
Fire Of Love

THE REVIEW

I admit it: it's only been a few years since I was introduced to the magical world of the Gun Club, and to be honest, I am glad I discovered such a brilliant and engaging band. A band that, on an underground level, has managed to influence the course of American rock (and not only) over the last twenty-five years! John Spencer Blues Explosion and Oblivians owe a heavy tribute to Jeffrey Lee Pierce (singer, guitarist, and soul of the Gun Club) and even unexpected musicians like Melvins, Screaming Trees, and Italy's own Marlene Kuntz have, several times, expressed their adolescent love for the music of this hybrid yet brilliant post-punk creature.

The Gun Club was born in Los Angeles in 1980, at the behest of Jeffrey Lee Pierce, a moody blues genius, lover of "black" music and Blondie's pop. Joining his adventure were rather eccentric characters like guitarist Ward Dotson, bassist Rob Ritter, and drummer Terry Graham. Musicians bound by a common love for two genres that, in different times, have expressed pain, suffering, and discomfort: blues and punk rock.

Pierce, unfortunately, passed away back in 1996 after years of excess of all kinds, but his work with the Gun Club continues to live on, despite the limited media exposure, in the hearts, minds, and notes of thousands of rockers scattered around the world.

"Fire Of Love," the Los Angeles band's first work, thus presents itself as a wild and passionate album of pure blues-punk. Forget the boring and living-room sound of people like Eric Clapton or Steve Ray Vaughan, because here we are talking about the most overwhelming American blues, the Delta kind, that visceral, sincere, and obsession-filled blues, full of spleen, visions, and existential torments.

The punkish "Sex Beat," the twisted and heartbreaking cover of "Preaching The Blues" by Robert Johnson, the sensual howls present in "For The Love Of The Ivy" (a sort of perverse love anthem dedicated to Poison Ivy of the Cramps), the spectral animosity of "Black Train" and genuine ballads for new bluesmen like "Promise Me" make this "Fire of Love" a cornerstone of 80's alternative rock. Not only, then, an album to listen to with passion but also a testimony of how rock would soon evolve.

Many, when speaking of blues-punk, have the habit of comparing the early Gun Club's offering to that of bands like the Birthday Party. It's undeniable that both the Birthday Party and other blues-punksters have drawn from the same cultural and musical repertoire so dear to Pierce and company, but in my humble opinion, the music contained in "Fire of Love" stands out for its lesser violence and greater attention to the typical aspects of black tradition. Sure, punk and rock 'n' roll play a fundamental role within the eleven songs present here, but they rarely overshadow the "black" influences and never push to the limits of noise. Moreover, the voice of the great Jeffrey, a cursed poet armed with a cowboy hat and an electric guitar, is quite different from that of a baritonal crooner like Nick Cave, and indeed presents itself as more flexible and varied.

An album that catapults us into rural America, made of ghosts, cowboys, whiskey, and women but with a mind projected into the sounds and cultural ferment of the "post-punk" era. An album, in conclusion, that proves to be downright fascinating and always relevant!