{"id":1728,"date":"2014-07-16T11:01:43","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T15:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=1728"},"modified":"2015-04-04T18:25:23","modified_gmt":"2015-04-04T22:25:23","slug":"the-gun-club-fire-of-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-gun-club-fire-of-love\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gun Club <br>Fire of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/the_gun_club-fire_of_love.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1729\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/the_gun_club-fire_of_love.jpg\" alt=\"The Gun Club, Fire of Love\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/the_gun_club-fire_of_love.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/the_gun_club-fire_of_love-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>Between the mediocrity of the records he made while in decline and the overshadowing notoriety that comes from an early death, the music that Jeffrey Lee Pierce made as the guiding light of The Gun Club has been criminally underappreciated. Of course, it doesn\u2019t help that those albums went from the cut-out bin to out-of-print even before he passed away in 1996 from a blood clot after years of abusing himself with drugs and alcohol. If history rewarded innovation and conviction, Pierce would be regarded in the same hierarchy as his contemporaries in X and The Cramps, whose Kid Congo Powers got his start as Brian Tristan in The Gun Club.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps reissues like Superior Viaduct\u2019s new pressing of the band\u2019s debut, <i>Fire of Love<\/i>, on CD will help give The Gun Club its due. Certainly one listen to this record should convince anyone of the band\u2019s potency. Two years after forming in Los Angeles, the band recorded this first album, with Tito Larriva of The Plugz producing six tracks and The Flesh Eaters\u2019 Chris Desjardins producing the other five. Powers had already left to join The Cramps and was replaced by Ward Dotson, while the band was rounded out by former Bags members Rob Ritter and Terry Graham on bass and drums, respectively. The album came out on LA label powerhouse Slash\u2019s Ruby imprint in August of 1981.<\/p>\n<p>The album lurches out of the gate with \u201cSex Beat.\u201d Few songs embody rock\u2019s ethos like this one, combining a primitive backbeat, a killer riff, and lyrics that bespeak sex and danger at once while commanding us to \u201cmove!\u201d I mean is there a better line than, \u201cWe can fuck forever, but you will never get my soul?\u201d With this album, Pierce defined The Gun Club aesthetic, tapping the blues for both sound and its crossroads archetype. That, of course, is most obvious with \u201cPreaching the Blues.\u201d Here, Pierce takes the Robert Johnson classic and injects it with a little punk freneticism and his own brand of hellfire. One gets the impression that when he sings about getting religion in the song\u2019s refrains, he\u2019s already found it, with it being the blues of which he howls.<\/p>\n<p>The centerpiece of the record and the song for which he is best known is \u201cShe\u2019s Like Heroin to Me.\u201d (Interestingly, Powers would later cover this song in Congo Norvell, with Mark Eitzel guesting on vocals.) On this track, slide guitar is juxtaposed with a propulsive riff while Pierce elaborates on his simile. Of course, the song resonates all the more for Pierce\u2019s fatal affair with smack, but it is also powerful because it rings true as a classic femme fatale tale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the Love of Ivy\u201d also stands out on the record. Here, Pierce channels his inner voodoo child, singing lines like, \u201cGonna buy me a graveyard of my own, kill everyone who ever done me wrong.\u201d It\u2019s reminiscent of The Cramps, though it\u2019s doubtful Lux Interior would ever have sung about hunting someone named Ivy. As the jangly guitar attack melts away, the song devolves into animalistic hoots and hollers, Pierce convincingly conveying a tormented soul. \u201cFree Spirit,\u201d which follows, is seemingly in contrast, presenting a clear mindset lyrically and a straightahead mix of rock touchstones.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce and company return to the blues with the traditional \u201cCool Drink of Water.\u201d Pierce coos and howls his way through the song, effectively contrasting his approach with that of his luminaries. Like the rest of the record, the song vividly highlights The Gun Club\u2019s unique dissemination of the past and the present day punk of their environ. As such, <i>Fire of Love<\/i> is an album for the ages, one that resonates with the kind of verve that can only be summoned by a true believer. Though he would eventually tarnish his legacy, in the moment that is the 11 songs on this record, Pierce held that kind of messianic presence, delivering the gospel in spades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Between the mediocrity of the records he made while in decline and the overshadowing notoriety that comes from an early death, the music that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[1444,373,739],"class_list":["post-1728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-past-perfect","tag-past-perfect","tag-superior-viaduct-records","tag-the-gun-club"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - 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