GF music review club

[Carvalho Diablo]

Review : The Gun Club - Fire Of Love

 

Okay, here we are with Boss's 3rd AOW, and it's another I've never heard of. Here goes...

 

[presses play]

 

Sex Beat - Boooom, say hello to the ghost of Lou Reed. I really like this lo-fi punky stuff, reminds me of New York Dolls, Blondie and that old early NYC punk scene. Heroin and hookers. Simple catchy riffage. A really nice start.

 

Preaching The Blues is more up tempo, I can imagine kids pogoing away, a nice riff, the drummer brings it down low, Lou Reed meets George Thorogood. This sounds great, the mix had a lot of space and ambience, maybe the bass a bit higher ?

 

Promise Me is another total Lou Reed track, could be a tribute, could be from Transformer. Slower and dirtier, I really like the slide guitar here and on the previous song. Is that a keyboard or a drone string ? Still not sure I like that or not to be honest.

 

She's Like Heroin To Me is another stomper. Very straightforward, no surprises save the vocalist conjuring some Jagger ?

 

For The Love Of Ivy - "You look just like an Elvis from Hell" ? Is that what he said ? Great lyric. FTLOI follows the same formula laid down by the first 4 tracks, I'm still waiting for the BIG riff to blow me away though...but some really nice guitar lines under the choruses. 2 minutes too long this one.

 

Fire Spirit is total Lou Reed, but where is that bass ? Turn that fucker up you knob twiddling fool. Really like this one, favourite song so far.

 

Ghost On The Highway is another cracker, lovely bouncing rhythm, nice slide guitar and good riffage, cracking chorus.

 

Jack On Fire - I've listened to this 6 or 7 times now and this is the song that really gets on my tits, I just can't stand the vocal. Shame because I love the simple bass line, go figure. "I will fuck you til you die", it's like Lovage all over again.

 

Black Train - Turn that bass up please. This reminds me a bit of Can God Fill Teeth by LARD. The shufflin' snare keep the train a'rollin.

 

 

Cool Drink Of Water is lovely and bluesy and southern. Loads of space and natural reverberation. Lovely mix, really like this one, we're down in the bayou via 1970's NYC straight into my ears. Best song yet, even if I couldn't understand a single word that Lou was singing. Really enjoyed that one.

 

Good By Johnny has nice bass and drums at the start, again the singer with his Reed tribute cranked to 10, a lovely guitar breakdown. The album does sound great, very authentic. A nice way to end.

 

So, despite some weaker tracks in the middle I think overall  Fire Of Love is a triumph. The strong start and even stronger finish more than making up for the mid-disc fumble. A triumph as a homage, perhaps even better as a stand alone record. Not blown away but I definitely enjoyed this album and would most certainly happily listen again. Thanks Boss, another tick in the box.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Still plenty of time to get your reviews in fellas. Next to choose his AOW is Howie, due around Monday or Tuesday 13th / 14th August. Following Howie should be our resident Ronin Winston Wold (anyone seen Winston about ?), and then it's back on to me.

[Boss]

Interesting you mentioned Blondie because the lead singer used to be the President of the Blondie fan club before he formed the band. Blondie wrote a song called 'Under the Gun' about him.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

The Gun Club - Fire of Love
 
Straight away I get the tiniest hint of an Iggy Pop vibe (as you'd expect with a lot of American music from around that scene and era) from the guitar, but without the crunch to the vocals hitting in tandem with the key notes. If I'm honest the first three tracks slide past me without really making an impact; only Preaching The Blues, with its upbeat energy and howls, really registers, though signs of a country influence prick my ears up here and there.

 
Something's very familiar, and I can't put my finger on it until track 4, She's Like Heroin To Me. The vocalist, Jeffrey Lee Pierce's style reminds me of someone. Then it dawns on me, the delivery with its slight tremor, the spoken style all feel like Frank Black of The Pixies. No idea if it's an accepted influence on Black, but once I joined the dots I couldn't unhear that, every strained line brought to mind things like Nimrod's Son.
 
Lyrically it's a bit tougher to get a handle on, like a lot of the more arthouse punk / post-punk it's a bit of a scattergun effect, but it helps maintain that sense that it's happening in the moment. For The Love of Ivy uses the punctuation of “let’s take it way down” to indicate a slowing of the tempo, yet it still feels impromptu, like you’re listening to a live set. The best punk albums always sound organic, leaving in the raw and unpolished elements.

 

It's really growing on me by this point; the manic laughing screams towards the end of the track give me a full on Pixies feel, and all at once I'm listening to something old, that's new to me, and getting a strange sense of nostalgia for something that clearly came afterwards. Bit of a headfuck.
 
Then we hit the weakest track, Fire Spirit. The rhythm isn’t there, it jars a bit. It's like an acid trip that a friend really wants to tell you about, yet the act of relating things only comes across as dull because it's impossible to relay what it felt like. A bit earnest and boring if I'm honest.
 
Ghost on the Highway, now things get interesting. The Country influence starts to raise its head again, the bending of strings (or is that a slide guitar?), puts a bit more of a traditional air behind the upbeat sub-three minutes punchiness. I do love me some genre blending.
 
On first listen I was so fixated on the Frank Black nature of the vocals that I never really put 2 and 2 together and realised the other artist rattling around in my head - Lou Reed. Jack on Fire is very early Reed, with a bit of a Walk on the Wild Side feel, all relaxed vocal delivery and elongated vowels. It's probably the most traditionally muscial track, where composition is ahead of attitude and swagger. A really nice break with one of the most memorable lines “some creole boy was lying dead, I used his blood to paint the costume red”.
 
Talking of lyrics, the few instances of the n word really jump out at you. Maybe it's my modern lower middle class white boy sensibilities, but asides like those in The Black Train (“left a nigger lying dead by the river”) still shock me slightly.
 
Then it's back to the country Americana, as Cool Drink of Water rolls by, the bass underpinning things tightly. I don’t mind slowing things down, it starts to indicate the album's coming to a close with some experimentation, you're listening to a band finding a sound. Then it's on to the final track, Good By Johnny, and to be honest it seems like things close with a whimper rather than a bang. There's not enough grunt behind the lead guitar, and I'm left with an itch to scratch.

 

That's probably unfair of me, on its own merits it's a really interesting album, and one that  - like all good music - opens up a doorway to many other artists and styles that you'll want to explore further. So, for that, and the high points, I'll award it a very respectable 7 out of 10.

[Boss]

Fantastic review that Babb’s and I can tell you’ve really delved into the record and put a lot of thought into that review, so thank you. On the subject of the N word being used, it’s mentioned in a couple of songs. The singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce had a fascination with the American Civil War era and created a persona for himself (in the early incarnation of the band) which was a wounded Confederate soldier. Some of the songs are written from that perspective - Black Train being one. 

 

Some people have said that his lyrics prove he was a racist, but I find that suggestion way wide of the mark. It would certainly be in contrast to everything the band ever said, which holds total reverence towards the delta blues era and black artists in general.

 

The Frank Black thing is interesting and it’s stark on some of the tracks like ‘Preaching the Blues’. Not only did Jeffrey Lee Pierce seemingly influence Black’s vocal style, but even the quiet / loud dynamic that often gets accredited to The Pixies can be heard on tracks like ‘For the love of Ivy’.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Cheers Boss, it's great to get a bit of background info after you've given something a good listen. Think I might delve into some associated acts on Spotify next.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Was gonna say, I know absolutely zero about The Gun Club; where are they from, when were thay a thing, who's in them who may know?

[Boss]

If you're asking how to find out about them, there's really not much out there. There was a documentary about them called "Ghost on the Highway" but the film makers refused to pay to license the music. It's decent as a starting point to learn about the band, but as a documentary it's pretty poor.

[TheHowieLama]

Well - I likes this record.

 

Lets face it any fella in that scene covering Robert Johnson in 1980 cant be all bad.

 

First track is very much a de riguer dance tune for that time.

 

The Robert Johnson cover is boss -- great dynamics -- definitely can hear the Jack White comparisons here. 

 

The drone and disappearing into the reverb swell on the third is cool.

 

Heroin tune is another one that I am sure packed the floor with folks doin the early new wave dancing. Again the slide guitar sets it apart from other stuff of this ilk.

 

Ivy might be the Heroin girl as these feel similar. Freak out at the end -- good.

 

Next tune -- has the crazy surf vibe to it, singer is least matched to this for me -- I like the talking thing when you are out of tune, less so when trying to actually sing.

 

Ghost -- where the singer is out of his element in Fire -- with a similar delivery he sounds good here for some reason. This track has an urgency from the band as well.

 

Next track is ok - not great for me. Though I do believe  "I will fuck you til you die and bury you and kiss this town goodbye" is pretty straight shooting.

 

Train -- cool use of reverb again -- a little Sun influenced guitar. Nice

 

Good soundscape on the slow tune -- but not enough to keep a blues fan engaged and probably a sleeper if you like the up tempo stuff.

 

Last tune feels like the B side to Sex Beat.

 

 

All in all - good album by an artist I have not heard -- better than the majority of aRdja's breakfast I can tell you that.

 

6.85

[Guest]

Well - I likes this record.

 

Lets face it any fella in that scene covering Robert Johnson in 1980 cant be all bad.

 

First track is very much a de riguer dance tune for that time.

 

The Robert Johnson cover is boss -- great dynamics -- definitely can hear the Jack White comparisons here. 

 

The drone and disappearing into the reverb swell on the third is cool.

 

Heroin tune is another one that I am sure packed the floor with folks doin the early new wave dancing. Again the slide guitar sets it apart from other stuff of this ilk.

 

Ivy might be the Heroin girl as these feel similar. Freak out at the end -- good.

 

Next tune -- has the crazy surf vibe to it, singer is least matched to this for me -- I like the talking thing when you are out of tune, less so when trying to actually sing.

 

Ghost -- where the singer is out of his element in Fire -- with a similar delivery he sounds good here for some reason. This track has an urgency from the band as well.

 

Next track is ok - not great for me. Though I do believe  "I will fuck you til you die and bury you and kiss this town goodbye" is pretty straight shooting.

 

Train -- cool use of reverb again -- a little Sun influenced guitar. Nice

 

Good soundscape on the slow tune -- but not enough to keep a blues fan engaged and probably a sleeper if you like the up tempo stuff.

 

Last tune feels like the B side to Sex Beat.

 

 

All in all - good album by an artist I have not heard -- better than the majority of aRdja's breakfast I can tell you that.

 

6.85

[Carvalho Diablo]

Hahaha. I liked Nutella The Flower Boy better than aDjra's brekkies.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Everybody ready for our next AOW ?

 

Howie, over to you mate...

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Completely missed the Robert Johnson cover on Fire of Love. I must be slipping.

[Carvalho Diablo]

[cough] Howie [cough]

[TheHowieLama]

Sorry pal just seen this -- give me a few -  Josef jumped the shark on my pick in another thread

[TheHowieLama]

Fuck it -- going with my original pick here 

 

Very rare that a single record changes the landscape like this -- 

 

 

 

Bad Brains -- Yellow

 

 

[Lee909]

Sorry im well behind its been a shitty week. Mum was due to be hospital for a op. Yet another family member to go down to a fuck up gallbladder.Thats niw me,Brother,Grandad and Mum in past 5 years. Deffo some fucked up gene running there. Op was cancelled a few days before

 

Ill catch asap

[Carvalho Diablo]

Thanks to Howie for posting our latest AOW, Yellow Tape by Bad Brains.

 

TLF Music Club Youtube channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmD81dOULR2dlVx03buDBQ/playlists?view_as=subscriber

[Carvalho Diablo]

Yellow Tape by Bad Brains

 

 

[Carvalho Diablo]

TLW GF Music Club Spotify :

 

 

[Carvalho Diablo]

Spotify links to this week's AOW :

 

https://open.spotify.com/user/carvalho666/playlist/3k64dON6XvCI1W9GFNH8Gr?si=6rZFlM7ERFKI9m-QN9Xadw

 

https://open.spotify.com/album/4NpepcKo9rQ8nkdCB6iWMP?si=sC5PriTMSoq443f9HsxuRA

[Carvalho Diablo]

Finally, next man up with his AOW is Winston Wolf, due around Mon / Tues 27 / 28 August.

 

Following Winston in our club's rotation is me and then Zonko.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Alright fellas, if you don't mind I propose that we delay our next AOW by Winston Wolf by a further week, due to the site problems. So if Winston doesn't mind, our next AOW will be due around 3rd or 4th September.

 

As to our current AOW, Bad Brains' Yellow, shall we get our fingers out and get some reviews in over the course if the next 7 days. I'll get my own review up sometime in the next 48 hours.

 

Let's keep this thing rolling.

[Pidge]

Yellow by Bad Brains is a fucking classic (always thought it was self-titled mind you...).  10/10

[ZonkoVille77]

I'll get my review up over the next couple of days. Only listened to it twice so far so need to have a right go at it.