Reviews (page 3 of 8)
Sorry libérals but I like post punk. It's like punk but they deliver packages too. Unfortunately no catchy parcels
Tän levyn musat ja soitot oli ok. Biisit ja laulaja ei.
Day818 - well this is a surprise. my streak of really good albums continues
I'd only heard For the Love of Ivy before, but I really like the psychobilly feel to the whole album. Some of the lyrics are pretty cringe tho.
Pretty bluesy for a punk album. A Cool Drink of Water is pretty sick.
3.5
Love the five song breakdown from She's Like Heroin to Me to Jack on Fire. JLP was an actual lunatic and it translates to this manic assembly. The comedown from that on Black Train and Cool Drink of Water is great too but the swell of energy off those five tracks is down the highway at 120mph excitement. Favorite Tracks: everything from She's Like Heroin to me to Jack on Fire
Sex Beat
Some songs I liked, some I didn't.
あんま
Interesting little subgenre focus.
Punky pero repetitivo, si no sonara todo igual se habría llevado el 5 pero me está aburriendo.
3.5
Good solid post punk album. I can’t get the “this is where it all started” type vibes, probably because I have listened to a lot that followed it. If it was the pathway to many more bands then kudos to them
New to me, but I really enjoyed this. Bluesy and punky
Musically alright, but even in 1980 an all white band repeatedly using the n-word isn’t great
2.75
Consider me unimpressed. A lot of this isn't exciting to listen through, but they have a couple good songs in here. Black Train and She's Like Heroin to Me stand out. But largely I find these songs uninteresting. I can hear the influence it might have had, but that doesn't make it good on its own. 2.2/5
Ehh ya know
Love the mix of punk and blues, don't love the overt racism
Didn't quite hit after a promising start.
rough. and a little racist
Love this sound.
Some pretty good stuff on here, a little alarmed by the “N” word use especially in a punk album. Not sure what context it was used in. Otherwise I like the loud-quiet-loud style
Lkkr punk
Not punk that moves me
Not bad. Decent enough up tempo stuff landing somewhere between post punk and poppish punk, but probably not worth listening to again or picking up from the bargain rack at Barnacle.
Fantastic post punk. I loved this album
A promising and stylistically unique start that unfortunately loses its edge as the album progresses. The fusion of post-punk rigidity and raw blues is technically fascinating at first, but the lack of dynamic variation and sonic depth makes the experience feel repetitive. While the "lo-fi" energy is palpable, the record ultimately fails to sustain its initial impact, feeling more like a single great idea stretched too thin
I liked this; would I listen again? Maybe.
I enjoyed my time with this album. It sounds like a lot of other stuff I enjoy, but toes a line between different and not really setting itself apart. I’m if nothing else interested to see more of what this band has to offer, as it’s my first time hearing any of their stuff.
Overall just a decently enjoyable sound from start to finish. Ghost on the Highway was probably my standout.
virkelig funky ift. genreblend. Det var sjovt nok også det første jeg tænkte da jeg så det og derfor glædede jeg mig virkelig meget til at lytte til det. Jeg blev heller ikke skuffet. Jeg synes det er virkelig godt, det har en rigtig god blanding af post-punk attitude, lækre melodier og hooks og gode guitarspil. LYden af den blander roots, blues rock og punk på en måde der bare får det til at lyde nyt er mega fedt. åbenbart lagt bane for pixies og the white stripes. Den har blandt Psychobilly/gothic roots rock som er lyden af dødsdrevet energi, sydstats gotik og voodoosymbolik. det ved jeg ikke hvor gennemtrængende jeg synes er. Kort sagt tog den bare gammel bluesmytologi, punkenergi og gotik og blandede til en ny lyd af rock.
Kind of a tough one, I liked the music for the most part but stuff that probably played as subversive at the time (jump scare use of the n word) is kind of exhausting now.
Not the album for me, the sound of the songs were alright but I didn't like the sound of the singers voice.
Generic punk, just like dozens of other albums on this list. Not as shouty and tuneless as some of the others, granted, but it still sounds like a teenage band who haven't quite figured out how to play their instruments well and in time with each other
Boring
As far as punk goes, this ain't bad. Just not enough of a fan of punk. Vocally uninspiring.
Favorite track(s): Sex Beat, She's Like Heroin to Me, For the Love of Ivy, Ghost on the Highway
Liked parts of this but generally not my thing
Kind of repetitive but still enjoyable
This is the Gun Club album I usually come back to. After enjoying it again this morning, I revisited Miami and realized I need to give the others another chance
I’m
still a classic. a bit same-y throughout but still great music
Early 80’s post punk. Not sure what to make. Distorted guitars, elements of some goth. May listen again.
great!!!
Garten, Gerstetten, Deutschland. Feine Scheibe!
*slaps roof* yep, that's your run-of-the-mill punk music.
Live these guys. Absolutely an essential listening album
I was excited to see a punk band that I'm not familiar with come up on the list, but this didn't really live up to expectations for me. I enjoyed it well enough, but there's nothing that will draw me back.
Holy smokes, was this album fantastic. I'd rank this up there with the Soft Boys in terms of bands I've never listened to and wish I had a long time ago. I sort of knew of them in an ass-backward way because I loved Kid Congo Powers guitar work with the Cramps (and later Congo Norvell), and I'd heard he'd played in The Gun Club, but I never listened to TGC. And so only yesterday did I find out what a great mix of punk, country, rockabilly, blues they made! Ah well. Definitely adding this to the rotation.
I had never heard of this band and like this style pretty well. I have a hard time seeing what this band does that X doesn't do better. The lyrics to Jack on Fire are legitimately scary.
2/5 - Punk-a-billy is fine in small doses. I kept the dose small, and this was fine.
This was a nice change. Kept my interest, I’ll revisit.
Another band I was aware of, but somehow missed listening to in the 80s. I’m always down for some cowpunk/punkabilly, and so I liked this more than expected. Reminded me of some other under-the-radar bands of the same period like the Rave Ups doing similar stuff. Only these guys had more of an edge. Fun listen.
This was cool, sort of an unexpected mix of the vocals and backing music for the genre. Not sure I’d rush back to this, but def above avg
Nice collision of styles and an enjoyable listen. Hadn’t heard of these guys but something I might come back to. Some of the songs didn’t quite land for me and there wasn’t a standout, hence the round down l. 3.5
Wasn't sure what to expect when I read: "they were one of the firsts in the punk rock subculture to incorporate influences from blues, rockabilly, and country music." Then I heard Preaching the Blues...and I liked it. Peters out a bit towards the end, but still an enjoyable enough surprise for me to round up. 3.5/5
Favorite Track: Fire Spirit
Fun punk with a solid beat.
⭐⭐ Polerad punk rock. Tycker inte illa om det men det är inte heller något jag tro jag kommer lyssna på igen. Tycker jag saknar lite edge. Tycker spåren blir enformiga och tycker ånga känns släpiga och utdragna. Blir en 2a.
7 - GOOD
For punk, this was listenable, but that's it
Great record! It's ramshackle in all the right ways, held together by rhythm guitar just tight enough to let everything else flare out as it will. Jeffery Lee Pierce wants to be a punk Jim Morrison or something so badly it makes his shortcomings all the more poignant. He's the greatest bad singer of the era.
Like the Ramones before them, the Gun Club illustrate that punk was about stripping rock of its bloat and excesses and going back to basics — in this case, a lean and aggressively uptempo take on the blues. Jeffrey Lee Pierce establishes himself as a dark enigma capable of evoking both wonder and revulsion. Musically, things veer from the hallucinatory “Cool Drink of Water” to the hard-charging “She’s Like Heroin To Me” (“She cannot miss a vein!”). Love it.
Shows a lot of promise that it doesn't exactly deliver on. I dont know much about this band but my guess is it imploded before it could achieve greatness.
This band and singer make a better life story than an album it seems. In reading about them the singer sounds like he was not a big fan of this album. It is interesting to read about a fascinating LA band given that I live in LA and have never heard of this group, but honestly the LA punk stuff circa 1980 has never done anything for me. I'd rather watch a documentary about this band than hear another album. Godspeed Gun Club.
I didn’t love it, and I didn’t hate it. It’s an interesting idea but didn’t really sustain my attention. The description of it promised more than the reality delivered, ultimately.
this was dope, i like punk
Estaba emocionada de que por fin me tocase un álbum del género punk, solamente para terminar completamente decepcionada... Escuchando los primeros temas, pensé que iba a ser entretenido, pero terminó convirtiéndose en un disco repetitivo y que podría confundirlo por cualquier álbum genérico de rock de la época. Las letras me transmitieron poco y nada, y la excusa de mediante ellas 'personificar a un personaje racista' como una crítica a esas personas –a mi parecer– termina simplemente en un patético intento de parecer "transgresivo", en lugar de realmente criticar al racismo social. No volvería a escuchar este álbum. ↑: Sex Beat ↓: Jack on Fire, Black Train, Cool Drink of Water Blues
Proto Pixies vibe
never listened to an album by them but knew the name, and did recognize two songs
Awesome. You could have convinced me this came out a decade or two later and I would have believed you. Definitely on the same wavelength as the Cramps, but with a completely different tone. Pretty awesome.
Perfection. a blueprint for the next 15 years. No gun club, no pixies.......
I don't hate it, it's alright. I just don't really care about it.
It was cool, but the vocals ruined it for me.
Good non great
Punk, Pós punk,blues... Junta mais alguma coisa e sai esse disco e... Legal d+! KZ ZVX.
On my first listen I was ready to give this a 1. On my second listen, and after reading through some info on the band I was really loving it and thought I would give it a 4. This is the duality of man. I listened again just recently, and still think there is actually a lot to enjoy here, it's messy in just the right ways, the vocals are off-kilter but catch your attention, all while still hitting with these great riffs and lyrics, but that messy sound starts to drag a bit by the end, especially the lead vocals really start to get tiring unfortunately. But still had a good time, props to them for putting a rockabilly sound into a context that I actually enjoyed. Fav Track: 4 - She's Like Heroin To Me Best Three Track Run: 1, 2, 3
The Blues get the punk treatment with a frontman who wants to be Lou Reed/ Iggy Pop- what could go wrong? Everything, it turns out. Grating and atonal, these dudes seem to want you to hate them and I am taking the bait. Unlike other punk provacateurs like the Sex Pistols, they desecrate their idols but do not create anything worthwhile in its place. Would give it zero stars if I could.
I guess i don't really get the nuances of punk. This was fine, but didn't seem ground breaking
Although I can see what this brought to the punk sound in terms of the blues/rockabilly/even country influences this just didn't really do a ton for me. The energy is OK on some tracks, the flourishes of steel/slide guitar on some songs is sort of interesting, and I can see how this probably influenced bands like Social Distortion or even the White Stripes. I feel like I haven't rated anything a 2 in a while so was due, and most of this I just didn't care for.
Punk with a country twang. Enjoyable
Temp
sorta similar to the cramps vibes but less vulgar. not my taste but still good. better than cindy lauper.
i really like the combo of the country and punk rock it actually sounds great. why are they killing so many black people on this album tho wtf is up that. why are they so many lines about killing niggas bro wtf. i was gonna say i really fuck with the album art but now im sussed out by it. ignoring that shit its a cool album i guess but idk how to feel about some of the subject matter
ssnnnnzzzzz
It's weird, but good. Kinda like a hillbilly discovering punk for the first time. The vocals are a bit weak in places, but the slide guitar carries it well.
Never thought I would listen to a thing called Blues Punk, but here we are. Some quirky moments, some decent ones. All in all, not too bad.
First of all.... just now learning that For The Love of Ivy is a cover and not an original Japandroids song. I heard that song and was like wha???? But also, gotta say, didn't expect the original song to use the n-word, along with at least one other song on here... I like the sound, I like the genre but eeehhhhhhhhh
I listened to this album one time in 2015 and honest to god i thought there were Black people in this band... shocker there isn't LOL. Anyways i get it that its problematic but i like it :)
Relatively straightforward punk. Some tracks are good, some are pretty mediocre and the variety is decent. None stand out either way. Ultimately a weak 3.
-1 star for the slur 😑
quite generic rock and roll, had high hopes because it was something I completely hadn't heard of but it didn't do much for me, the drumming was basically the same the whole album and the singer had an average voice. 3 stars just because it reminded me of The Pixies.
Not bad
Oh great an American punk album, fine whatever I should never judge an album by its genre! The moment the Blues guitar kicked in I was fully on board. This is so fun, what a great blending of genres.
An oozy, bluesy, claustrophobic punk album. The slide guitar is somehow threatening, Pierce’s vocals deranged, and the whole thing feels like you’re losing your mind on a night out. Overall, probably more influential that enjoyable for me, but still a strong 3.
It’s like punk rock and the doors together. 4.5 stars!
soort van iets gestroomlijnder versie van Cramps gemixt met Violent Femmes... me like!
Think the reviews on this is harsh. It's of its time but I actually quite liked it. Decent punk and some great guitar riffs and no issue with his voice. Don't get that critique im afraid
Kinda generic early 80s punk, good listen
Cool, edgy, fun. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would not knowing much about it.
This is so rad. I love the style and whine of this punk record. Very much up my alley, and an album I'll certainly add to my rotation. 8/10
Enjoyable punk!
Album 106. Fire Of Love — The Gun Club (1981) Nope, I don't really like punk. It seems like not very smart music. And this is mediocre shit. The album is too repetitive, it's annoying. 1/5 No liked songs
They have a fairly stereotypical punk sound, and I generally like punk unless it’s super hard. Overall this was decent. Glad I listened to it, don’t know if I’ll go back to them, though.
Sex Beat
Some questionable lyrics, even for the early 80s but I liked the music
Rockabilly on steroids. This was a lot of fun.
Rockin jazzy beats and the instrumental was good
Felt like a mashup of other music of the era I liked but nothing stood out. 3.5
noisy in a way that was pleasing
fun but no further observations
Groovy
7/10
The album was fine, I can enjoy it but I don’t think I would ever choose it
Sounds like all of the other soft English punk. 2.5/5
Never heard of these guys but I thought they were pretty decent.
As far as cowpunk goes I really got into the genre through Lone Justice (early pre Iovine recordings) and Dash Rip Rock. Both of which lean more towards the cow (or Country) side. The country influence rockabilly with copious amount of amphetamines. The Gun Club definitely is more towards the punk side of cowpunk. It really has more of the 77 Punk scene infused with rockabilly. I sound I still like but I think I'm more partial to the ones that lean heavier into the rockabilly side with punk aesthetics driving it. But this was an enjoyable album I did take note that they did drop the N-word, which is definitely a kind of a no-go in my book, depending how it's used. And looking at the lyric I definitely didn't appreciate the reference. (7.6) ★★★½
Not really something I would consider to be in my wheelhouse, but I liked this quite a bit nonetheless. 4 stars
This is a super cool album. Has a lot of punk/rockabilly flair and sits between X and the Cramps. Highlights for me are "Sex Beat", "Preaching the Blues", and "She's Like Heroin to Me". 4.5 stars.
Guns + Punk = Gunk. Someone please wipe this mess off the 1001 Albums list?
Not awful by any means but fairly average. Some decent riffs
A strange mix of Post-Punk Rock, Psychobilly, and Blues. I quite liked it,
I've heard of this, but never listened to it before. Really good. Very much enjoy the steel guitar and general punk/country/blues vibes. Favorite - "Preaching the Blues" never heard it, loved it. This came up the day after Dinasaur Jr.'s "You're Living All Over Me" from 1987 and it is great listen to 2 albums that more or less bookend the 80's with such cool rock music. Goes against my preconceived idea that the 80's had decent but not "cool" music. The Replacements tomorrow?? Not my favorite singer, and it did drag a little towards the end after a great start. Solid 4 stars
Little odd
Mid
This would be better live
Fun sound but ultimately too same-y Great album cover
Good real punk. Better than I thought
0/11 bekannt 5/10 Beste Songs: Sex Beat, she’s like heroin to me, black train
rocks
Rly not a fan
Had to listen to album on youtube, was not on apple music 🫤 It was different, had some catchy riffs
Classic punk, never heard of these guys but I dig it.
I’ve been listening to a lot of punk lately because I want to get into it. I don’t know that I ever really will but I like the message most are pushing.
Meh.
3 personally not a fan of the blues-rock mix as other people might be. Preaching the Blues kinda reminded me of Ballroom Blitz by Sweet, kinda funny!
Can see how Pixies and specifically Black Francis' vocal was inspired by this. Impressed!
Did not like
I like it- still listening to it.
really enjoyed it, i think i need to get into punk
4/10 - Favorite song: Fire spirit
You can absolutely see how this would influence bands like Pixies, Black Lips, or Jack White in the future.
Rad. The kind of album that tools word rock roots and pushed them a step further. The beginnings of what would become bands like the Strange Boys. Off kilter, a little bit out of tune, and a feeling like you’re a little bit sick or delirious.
Loved it! Great punk rock music, with a couple of blues riffs thrown in.
I did not research the Gun Club, nor did I imagine I had never heard them. More a thing where I never connected "oh, this band" with "that" song. The thing is that in my past, in a sense, this hybrid movement from punk to post-punk, this in-between and following several band I really like through this process of re-imaging a genre... The Gun Club is right in that mix and it is once again "up my alley" music wise. It feels like the kind of music I would embrace in a small club out somewhere. In fact it IS the kind of music I did seek in early underground clubs. So for me there is a sense of belonging, a sense of "Oh, this is my kind of music, my 'peeps.'" Also it never gets boring and is sometimes fun and clever!
Best Song: Cool Drink of Water Blues. By far the most "blues" of these allegedly "blues-inspired" tracks. Worst Song: For the Love of Ivy. These weirdly whispered sex noises were not what I would consider a good time. Overall: Old punk that sounds like old punk. I appreciate that they were going for something bluesy, but it feels like a bastardized pastiche of blues at best (except for their covers of actual blues tracks, which lay bare how un-bluesy the rest of the album is). Sure, there's a youthful energy to it that amplifies some tracks, but I can't imagine ever returning to this.
Not familiar at all with this before listening / my first uncharted territory for this proeject - but fun listen that I suspect was a bit pioneering at the time
Nunca había escuchado a los Gun Club. La verdad, por la portada, creí que sería un disco de rap o de hip hop, y resultó ser una mezcla muy afortunada entre punk, rock, psichobilly, blues, rock cincuentero y quién sabe qué tanta cosa más. Muchas canciones geniales, un disco considerablemente divertido y en resumen 40 minutos en los que uno se la pasa muy bien.
Had never heard of this before - and after reading the Wikipedia really didn’t think I would like it but I ended up really enjoying it! Similar to the violent femmes to me. Lots of the reviews mention iggy pop and I got the stooges album yesterday what a coincidence
another YIKES of a lead singer/lyricist
I wish I was cool enough to enjoy post-punk or whatever this genre is called, but I’m really not.
3.3 / 5 for this album. I love the punk, rockabilly, delta bluesy, swamp music influence on this and I really like those styles of music. Nothing really stood out as a clear AMAZING on this album. On the whole, it's fine and dandy, but nothing really stood out as blow you away amazing.
Hot naar her, maar zeker hot.
Love the mix of punk and rusty-sounding guitar riffs. Also just an incredibly horny album
Pretty cool punk ish style! 3.75
This album was just good enough, and just bad enough, to make me want to go listen to something else entirely. Since I was in the early 80s anyway, I went for Was (Not Was) and heard a couple great tunes—“Out Come the Freaks” for starters, and then “Knocked Down, Made Small.” Great stuff. Anyway, back to this album. It is just good enough, and just bad enough, to merit 3/5.
At first, I couldn't decide. As the album went on, it became tedious. I wanted to like them because they have the kind of sound I really connect with. They are the exact opposite of the Modern Lovers. Same kind of sound, but no resonance.
The mixing of different styles is cool, but I don't see myself listening to it again anytime soon apart from one song that I liked. A good one time listen.
J'ai plus approfondi The Gun Club ces dernières années. Jamais déçu. J'aurais aimé voir Jeffrey Lee Pierce en show.
L'énergie des Sex Pistols avec une touche de blues. Pas mal mais j'ai de la misère, comme pour mettons les Germs ou Dead Kennedies, à m'imaginer un contexte où j'écouterais ça.
Incroyable. Du bon punk à saveur blues. Je ne les connaissais qu'à travers le cover de "for the love of Ivy" par Jarpandroids (seront-ils dans ce top? Ce serait surprenant mais heureux). Je suis heureux de les avoir découvert aujourd'hui. Ça rock ben raide
😐
No. 81 never heard of this band. A very early 80s punk sound but I noticed some elements of country/Americana showing up on some songs.
Fuckers be jammin
An interesting take on punk. Catchy, fun to listen to, and with enough personality of its own to make it worthwhile.
I'm gonna show my hand pretty early here: this is sick as hell. I think cow punk and adjacent genres are usually awesome and a lot of people are understandably, but unjustly skeptical of them. Wikipedia claims that this is the first punk album to combine the genre with American roots music, but I don't know if I agree with that when you have The Cramps and The Birthday Party coming earlier, but regardless, this is still revolutionary. It's punk, it's blues, and sometimes it's almost true-blue country. The searing intensity of punk melds remarkably well with the scuzzier, dustier side of Americana, and the result is like a rickety train, constantly threatening to derail, but never *fully* escaping. The energy is awesome, the songwriting is awesome, the lo-fi take on punk suits the country vibe well. And for the rickety presentation, there's some real cool playing here. Also, from what I've caught, the lyrics are really cool. Preaching The Blues and For The Love Of Ivy are probably the songs to go to if you want to know what this is all about. They both have insane momentum, clever writing, and really smart incorporation of both parts of this album's DNA. In fact, one of my favorite things about the presentation here is that The Gun Club doesn't just slap some country paint on a punk album. Both genres are completely ingrained in the sound here and I can see how it would make people feel that this was completely original when it came out. Because, even if this had precedence at its time, it still sounds worlds away from its forerunners. In short, Fire Of Love truly feels like a unique accomplishment, and to the right person, this is like the coolest shit ever.
Okay, I never would have found this or listened to it on my own. And I would have turned it off if I wasn't doing this project. (I want to give every album a real chance - no skips.) I liked the music fine, it was really just the vocals that were grating. I was grateful when it was over and I won’t be revisiting.
What’s with the slurs
Electric Violent Femmes? 🤷♂️
I kinda enjoyed but wasn't the most memorable for me Will I listen to again: 42%
super j’adore quand c’est rocky rock 😜😜
Blues with a punky attitude, or punk form of the blues? Perhaps equal parts of both, as this feels like a natural fusing of the two. Driven by a roaring band, slide guitar interjections, and Jeffrey Lee Pierce’s sometimes ominous and sometimes excited vocals. The band is nicely in step with- they take things down low together and explode with intensity together. All together it’s got a couple of strong and memorable tracks, while the others are just fine and start to blend together. Decent listen that may pop up here and there, but not making a significant impact on me.
Really liked the energy
Previously unknown. Some of the songs were close to what I like, but overall I wouldn't come back to it.
Love the raw energy on this album. Interesting mix of blues and punk that I’ve never really experienced.
Discovered this band from tribute albums to JLP featuring Mark Lanegan, David Eugene Edwards, and Nick Cave. This record is like a Rosetta Stone for understanding where some of my favorite music came from and it is in itself a work of understated beauty.
Thought this was just fine, some standout tracks but overall just OK. I can see how it would have been pretty fresh at the time though, and can see a big influence on bands like the Pixies that would follow. Some uncomfortable use of the N word though.
this put me off listening to this list for a few days. Its a jumbled mess of noise, odd vocals and nothing ever really matches up musically.
Somehow this band is a shittier version of The Doors. Like The Doors had sex with the Velvet Underground’s early stuff and shit out this awful pretentious album. And the worst part is that some of it had a nice groove. But the lyrics and singing and overall presentation was so insulting to listen to. Terrible
Some good guitar work is undone by annoying vocals. Nothing special.
picks: she's like heroin to me, for the love of ivy, jack on fire
A fine punk album. I dig the blues influence while still keeping that punk edge
Not my style
A peculiar album blending punk with blues and rockabilly. Such combination of styles is also known as 'Psychobilly', so there's an interesting fact for the day. What I really liked about this project are the punk moments. 'Sex Beats', 'Preaching the Blues' and "She's Like Heroin to Me" are the best tracks by difference. The rhythms and riffs are incredibly frenetic. The rest... I didn't really care. 'Promise Me' and 'For the Love of Ivy' are decent songs relying more on the blues/rockabilly side, but weren't as interesting as the others. Also, it is after this last song that the album gets uninteresting. The more punk inspired songs are quite forgettable and lack a lot of energy. In addition, the vocals start to get quite irritating. I don't really know what the singer does different from the initial songs, but in the second half his voice sounds weirder are forced. There's also the song 'Cool Drink of Water Blues', the longest one of the album. It is an incredibly slow and minimalist blues song that gets super tiring. I was thinking to give it a positive score due to the clean production and the interesting mix, but with so much material I didn't care of and always feeling tired at the end, I personally have to give it a bad score.
Maybe this could grow on me, but for now I'm having a hard time enjoying this all that much. I will say that I think this album is really interesting if nothing else, the blend of punk with blues and rockabilly is a really unique style. But on the whole, I just feel like it could have been pulled off a lot better, as despite the diverse array of genres and influences, somehow the album as a whole manages to feel pretty generic as a collective piece.
Blind album and artist. Thoroughly impressed for being 80s and I thought it was very unique and catchy.
O começo é bem interessante, um country, blues rock energético, mas depois fica repetitivo, não conhecia a banda, primeiro contato, salvei apenas duas músicas do disco.
Fire of Love ist das Debütalbum der amerikanischen Band The Gun Club. Die Aufnahmen fanden im Mai 1981 im Studio America in Pasadena und im Quad Teck Studio in Los Angeles statt. Produziert wurde das Album von Chris D. und Tito Larriva. The Gun Club stammt aus den USA (Los Angeles). Auf diesem Album verbinden Jeffrey Lee Pierce (Gesang, Gitarre) und seine Bandkollegen rohe Punk‑ und Post‑Punk‑Energie mit Elementen aus Blues, Rockabilly und Punk‑Blues. Besonders prägende Tracks sind „Sex Beat“, „She’s Like Heroin to Me“, „For the Love of Ivy“, „Preaching the Blues“ und „Cool Drink of Water“. Sie zeigen die direkte, ungeschönte Darbietung, knappe Riffs und bluesige Motive. Musikalisch bewegt sich das Album zwischen Punk, Post‑Punk und frühen Americana‑Einflüssen. Die Produktion erzeugt eine spärliche, lebendige Studioatmosphäre und betont die unmittelbare Wirkung der Songs. Abschließende Bewertung: Ein kompaktes, stilbildendes Debüt, das Punk- und Blues-Elemente prägnant kombiniert und die frühe Alternative-Szene der 1980er Jahre beeinflusste.
I usually like punk albums but this isn't it.
nothing too crazy, but the energy is very exciting. if this was my son and his schoolmates in my garage id say theyre the best school garage band in the world. as much of a mood piece as an hour long blues instrumental might be, just a different mood. favorite song is She's Like Heroin to Me
Rating: 6/10 Never heard of these guys before. Pretty cool. Punkabilly? Didn’t get much of a chance to dive into the lyrics and all around will have to give this one another listen. The album cover is questionable
Not terrible but also not something I ever want to listen to again, annoying vocals 3.8/10
1981 galera. os cara tavam fazendo esse som em 1981. puta merda.
brutal d+. dá pra ouvir a influência desse aqui em várias banda até mais recentes. doideiraça. mas tá aí, hein. talvez a única vertente do country que eu curta: cowpunk. bacana demais, achei divertidaço!! e de fato hein. 1981 e os cara tava quebrano a porra toda, pra frentex demais, o pixies bebeu dessa fonte aqui até o cu faze biquim
Fire of Love was my first encounter with The Gun Club, yet the riff from Preaching the Blues felt strangely familiar, and it stayed in my head long after listening. Reading about the band afterward added another layer: learning that Romi Mori, a Japanese woman, once played bass in the band, and that she had photographed a cover for The Smiths, caught my attention. I was also struck by how closely Jeffrey Lee Pierce was connected to Japan — his ashes were scattered in Kyoto, where I happen to live now. It’s nothing more than coincidence, really, but it gave me an unexpected sense of closeness. It reminded me that music isn’t shaped by sound alone, but also by the stories and contexts we bring to it.
A fun fusion of blues and punk rock sensibilities. Not sure how I missed this when it first came out.
Kind of a weird bluesy, rockabilly punk. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit more than I initially thought that I would. Preaching the Blues is a fun one that reminds me of something that I cannot quite put my finger on. Fire Spirit is fun to drum along to. Cool Drink of Water is a nice laid back bluesy sprawl. Lowest of 4s for me. Vocals were rough, but this had a nice feel about it that I was hooked into.
Pretty unique sounding album. Little punk, little blues sound. Singer sounds like Nude Party.
Pretty much the same punk drumming and guitar we have heard countless times on this list. Absolute nothing burger for me
Similarly to Fugazi I am really loving this so far even with the vocals which aren't the greatest. But imo it works with this music. Sex Beat is a sick blend of punk. surf, and folk. Listening to Preaching the Blues I can see the Nude Party getting some influence from these guys. Jack on Fire giving some Doors appreciation. Cow Punk kinda rules.
Not bad. Enjoyable. Light.
I could live without some of the lyrics, but I really enjoyed the sound, and the later influences are obvious. Good stuff.
Not bad, the bluesiness helps offset the punk aspects
- joku mainitti tuolla muissa arvosteluissa että tämä olis jack whitelle tärkeä albumi, sen tiedä väitteen todenperäisyyttä mutta voin sen kyllä kuulla - iha hyvä meno, ehkä tulee vähän the clash mieleen
Whenever someone has an obvious, irrational dislike towards a whole genre, it tends to bug me a bit because I’ve believed that new sounds can absolutely be capable of sounding great and deserve to be their own genre. But I’ve given so many chances to punkabilly, both records and in concerts, and there’s something about it that I completely hate in an honestly prejudicial way, it makes me feel like I’m listening to butt rock bands playing in fields of corn, hanging around stinky people chewing dip. Country, bluegrass, and southern rock are fantastic genres that do not give me this vibe.
Not really my sort of thing, but a fascinating listen. You can really hear the blues and rockabilly elements meeting the punk rawness, and see what an influence this must have been on Pixies.
Love this psychobilly. What fun.
Some decent early punk music. Kinda sounds a little like Violent Femmes if they were voiced by Francis Black from The Pixies. However, both those bands are much better, and both manage to go without having racist lyrics (For the Love of Ivy). Maybe I'm missing something in the lyrics (for example, Dead Kennedy's do it in Holiday in Cambodia, but its use clearly has a point), but that lyric definitely caught me off guard. So yeah. Perfectly fine punk music, with some questionable lyrics. But not enamored with it.
Why all the hate? Even my family didn't complain when this was on. Started really strong enjoyed the first few tracks and the last few, there's a few noisy ones in the middle, but this sounded genuinely interesting.
3.5
From the era of punk that was probably the best. I dig it.
Completely new to me and very good
Started off so enjoyable and then just kept getting worse By the end the vocals had really pissed me off. Shame because there were some really good songs 3 ⭐️
Pretty fun, upbeat, post punk, American band/album. Pretty enjoyable, particularly for a debut, even if a bit too long.
#804. It was decent, I suppose, but not something I would recommend to someone unsolicited. 3/5: acceptable
bish bash bosh, great record that I haven't heard in a while
Very enjoyable
Sick asf
No private session used for Spotify. I didn't know what I was getting in to with The Gun Club, but I like the energy and straight forward rock. I did know the song "She's Like Heroin to Me". I should listen to this more.
This was good. Never heard of these guys before. Read a little bit more about them and sounds they stuck around for a while and changed their style quite a bit. I'll have to check out some more of their stuff.
I know nothing about the Gun Club, though I have presumably come across them before. And now I need to go through their discography, because I liked this quite a bit. I'm a sucker for merging Americana and punk (see also the Gun Club's contemporaries in X), and I like how this diverged from the SoCal punk sound that was coalescing around this time.
2- Stars (4/15)
Really interesting and likeable and totally new to me.
👎🏻
Loved this, can't believe I'd never heard them before
This one was ok, but pretty boring. I like the genre, but nothing about this one jumped out and grabbed my attention. On the other hand, nothing about this jumped out and sucked either, but I don’t have any desire to listen to it again. 3/5
The band is exactly what's written on the (Wikipedia) tin. Punk and blues. It's passable, at least in places. The vocalist sounds like Lou Reed crossed with every single punk singer out there. For 1981, it's not that impressive (something turned up late to the trend, huh?) but many of the tracks are still pleasant. Sex Beat in particular is a solid opener with a guitar riff/chord progression that precedes the grunge craze a decade later. She's Like Heroin To Me Fire Spirit has a pretty lazy melody, and I'm never a fan of those. The Velvet Underground (and peers) might've pioneered the art of deadpan delivery over a harsh rocking beat, but they had star power that The Gun Club entirely lacks. Ghost on the Highway is similar, but at least it kind of tries to be melodic. You can sing along to bits and pieces. For the Love of Ivy warrants special attention because it's unusually long for a punk track. Sounds like the band knew it, because they had to start varying the dynamics to keep it interesting. To its credit, it works pretty well, combined with the extremely self-assured I-IIIb chords. Cool Drink of Water Blues is even longer, stretching well over 6 minutes long. It does take a much bluesier approach, abandoning the punk that I've had such a problem with up to this point. Unfortunately, the song kind of sucks. At least until you hit the fast jammy instrumentals, but those are much shorter than they need to be, and they're separated by minutes of mundane melody-less blues. 2/5 Key tracks: Sex Beat, She's Like Heroin To Me, Black Train
Cool album, I definitely hear them as a precursor to the Pixies especially in the vocals. I generally preferred the shorter, snappier songs, though Cool Drink of Water Blues, which most people seemed to dislike, I liked quite a lot.
No, i to jest porządny punk (w zasadzie post-punk, ale nie czepiajmy się sub-gatunków). Przewrotny, zaskakujący, szybki i pełen energii. Musiałem szybko wygooglować ten zespół, bo zobaczyłem okładkę, usłyszałem pierwszy utwór i moją pierwszą myślą było "Nie ma opcji, że czarni taką muzykę nagrywali". Fajna płytka.
Very cool album! It has the feel of pre-Murmur R.E.M. when they were a frantic dive bar touring band. This might bump up to 5 over time for me, but it's a 4.5 now.
We gotta have that punk Ow, we want the punk!
I didn't hate any of this except Cool Drink of Water Blues!
Not familiar with them coming in. Felt like a Mashup of Talking Heads, the Kinks and some B-52s. Nothing really resonated with me though
yea nah
A unique genre-mashing record. If they were gonna go with style they should've cut some tracks as it grows stale by the end.
The vibe reminds me of The Pixies, but with an occasional rockabilly feel. This album was released in 1981 so credit for helping to establish the sound. The songs are OK.
I was initially incluned to go with a 4 on this, because I could see how it likely influenced a lot of stuff I like (Pixies, Violent Femmes, Rev Horton Heat, Primus), but the 2 or 3 times the singer drops the N-word knocks it a star. I sure people would defend it in a "writing in character/parlance of the time & place" sort of way, but still just yuck.
Mostly unremarkable punk adjacent rock. Sounds mildly ahead of its time but nothing so catchy or ground-breaking as to justify having heard of them before encountering them on this list. Probably liked 'Promise Me' best.
It's punk. I was ready for the album to be over half way through. Not my thing. Not on the bad end of things, but definitely not my bag.
very awesome album cover you Betta know I'm hyped as heck
I have to laugh every time I get an highly renowned and successful and brilliant (or otherwise) album by a British act then look at the reviews from yanks which inevitably start with either 'wow, never heard of these guys' or 'what is it with this list and it's favouritism towards British bands no-one has heard of'. I'd anything, the list is way too slanted towards US shite. Who needs to hear more than two Country or Jazz albums in their entire life? Nobody, that's who. Having said that, here's yet another US band no-one has ever heard of. I like my punk straight. And I don't mean sexually. Punk should be ramshackle, heavy, brash, fast, shorty yet melodic, political, slogan heavy, and amateurish. Anything else and it's not punk. Is this post-punk? Apparently it was influential. Maybe it was, but I imagine it only influenced shite. I can hear The Pixies in here, but the parts about The Pixies I don't like. It's not bad. It has experimental moments. It's fast in places, amateurish, the vocals are shouty but bland like Dylan if he was less of a New York poser and instead grew up with a bunch of friends who liked looking at titty mags and boozing. The slide guitar is different, different enough to push this out of the punk genre for me. I had an okay time with it. I'd probably enjoy it more if the vocals weren't so normal. If it had a bit more edge and venom. It feels stripped of the anger it needs to be impactful. Tame. As a blues rock album with punk glazing it almost works, but as a punk album with Blues leaning it feels bereft of thrust. That Cool Of Water song for example, it can fuck all the way off. It's the most watered down attempt at Zeppelin this side of White Stripes. With a different singer, this is a more solid three, but as it stands it's a low 3.
I like the music, good old 80s punk. Nice production, nice tone on the guitars and bass, good balance. Vocals are fine. Pretty solid listen.
I have previously heard songs from their Miami album, such as "Fire Of Love" (not the album!) and "Mother of Earth" those songs have a very country-oriented sound to it unlike on this album which focuses more on punk rock and blues. It gets quite rockabilly (or psychobilly I suppose) at certain moments. The first half of the album massively threw me off, I was thinking for sure 'it's at least a 2/5.' But near the end it go a bit better, so 3/5 it shall be. Highlight Song/s: Fire Spirit
I have a lot to learn about punk, I suppose, but I didn’t need an education to appreciate this (previously unknown-to-me) marriage of punk and the blues. Great punk sound! Standouts on the album: “Sex Beat” and “She’s Like Heroin to Me.”
I had zero expectations on this one. For no real reason. But what a fun listen. Is this early pop punk? It was like taking some Pixies, mixing it with some Violent Femmes and then adding a dash in the Stooges.
The most non-descript, just-fine album I've heard in a long time.
Interesting album. On first listen, a lot of the songs sound kind of repetitive, but overall I like this one.
Bit discordant but in kind of fun way, dive bar vibes
More like 3.5. It was rocky and fun. Josh said like dive bar vibes and I agree. I’m into it in theory
The lyrics are questionable, but the tunes, rhytm and chording are really good
05/12/2025 This didn't really do anything for me, bang average I would say. Spotify listeners: 164.6k
One of the most timeless records ever released. Can't tell if it's 1978 or 1991 or 2020. Incredible stuff.
5.9/10
Primus without the edge
I'm aware of The Gun Club through **Lanegan's** obsession with them and there's a clear influence there on his roots americana stuff, even more so as he started to play with those in influences on _Field Songs_ and _Bubblegum_. I also hear the influence on **The Pixies**, particularly vocally, **The White Stripes** and early **PJ Harvey**. But what struck me most was the similarity they are to early **Rolling Stones**, it's the same blues worship only looser, more slithery and gone feral. I have listened to this album a few times before without it really landing but it has this time for sure. The raw bluesy energy of it is definitely in my wheelhouse and I'll likely explore them more.
sex beat
Super energetic
Good energy. Quite fun
Maybe I’m not in the right mood to listen to this, but I didn’t like it. There’s better post-punk/punk in my opinion. It’s a short album, but it felt long, and I thought “Cool Drink Of Water” was never going to end. It’s not terrible. I was just bored, and the further I get into this list, the harsher I rate boring albums.
This is perfection. I love The Gun Club a lot. Jeffrey Lee Pierce was a genius when it comes to punk infused Americana.
I don't buy into the hype of this band, but it's a perfectly good punk album. I'd say a little blues-punk if there has to be a sub-genre. Influence 4. Quality 3. Hits 1. Intangibles 3. This is fine 3.
Not my kind of stuff
Un punk sin muchas vueltas. No me pareció especial ni distinto a otros álbumes de la época la verdad. Para 1981 había ya mucha variedad. 4/10
Quite enjoyed this. Reminded me a little bit of the Fall. May well check out some more of their work.
Briefly interesting variation on punk. Energetic, with slide guitar/country influences. But in the end, it’s repetitive, like most punk derivatives. Then come the unspeakably racist lyrics… Automatic disqualification. This album caused me to formulate a new rule: if the lead singer cannot sing as well as I can, then i did not need to hear it before I died. It’s a low bar. But not one that is exceeded here. A 1.
This was awesome! I'd not heard of these guys, other than knowing For the Love of Ivy from Japandroids (one of my favorite albums). This is some of my favorite kind of music and I would have loved to see this band live. I can hear a lot of influences in it, but moreso, I hear this sound echoed in a lot of my favorite bands from the 90's and 00's. Great discovery for me!
The same song for like an hour. Each song isn't that bad, I could def drink whiskey to this. But a whole album? I couldn't do it
I love the stripped down blues-punk. It sounds deceivingly simplistic. Also, it has inspired some of my favourite musicians 5/5
I mean, sounded like punk rock to me. 3/5
Now this is more like it, the kind of band you'd actually like to find out about. Great album, sure it kinda sounds like X but that's not a bad thing. Don't know what sparked that punk and rockabilly fusion in LA, but it's just as potent as the stuff brewing in NYC.
This was an unexpected album for me. It took me a while to come around to it but I like the bluesy / punk nature. Not fantastic but pretty ok! I will put this band in rotation.
I enjoyed this without any knowledge of it. Having listened through i assumed it was mid 2000 hipsters but its 20 years before then which is impressive. Turns i i like american post punk not british.
sorry but this is soooo nothing to me with some of the limpest worst vocals ever. no wonder jack white liked it so much lol. whaaat who said that??? 🫣
fine. nothing special. just some more middling punk with a mild and ultimately unimpressive twist, in this case the blues sound. favorites: sex beat, she's like heroin to me, ghost on the highway
Not good, not bad, just is.
Weird, experimental, and unique, not what I expected from a group called "The Gun Club".
I can't believe I hadn't thought of their influence on Pixies until I read the reviews on here. It's really obvious.
There's some stuff here that I really like, but some I really don't.
Some of the most badass music to come out of the early 80's. 4/5
It's fine
tollerabile, ma just barely
First thoughts: What the hell is this? If this record isn't at least interesting, I'll be disappointed. This album art looks strange, lo-fi, and very cool. I hope the music reflects the art style. I'm excited. This one will grow on me, I think. Its genre is right up the post-punk avenue, which I'm naturally drawn to. My first casual listen gave me the impression that this record is a pretty straightforward, though energetic, garage rock album. No problem. Garage rock is cool; it just doesn't tend to hold my attention for long. A second listen revealed much more creativity and depth than I had heard the first time through. That alone will have me coming back for more because I'm always looking for new post-punk to get into. I didn't know enough about this record to understand why it was on the 1001 list, but a little bit of reading informed me that it was a progenitor of '80s garage rock resurgence and one of the first records to incorporate country rock into punk. For the OAD project, I try to approach bands that are totally unknown to me with as little research as possible. Just their inclusion on this list is enough motivation for me to give most records a few spins. However, knowing a little bit about what to listen for helped me appreciate this album more. A quick note about the album art. I admit that I was hoping for a black interpretation of post-punk here, maybe a revelation similar to what many of us experienced when the 1975 recorded, 2009 released, album "...For the Whole World to See" by Death got a resurgence 15 years ago. You should listen to that one if you haven't already. It's awesome. I had to look up some opinions on the album art because my attitude toward it changed when I realized the band's members were (mostly) white. I understand that the album art was changed for the releases of this album after The Gun Club moved over to Blondie's label. I also saw a lot of praise for the pink "voodoo" cover. And I have to admit the original cover grabbed my attention right away. But these images being used by a white band feels exploitative in 2025. I lean toward not being mad at it because it was made in 1981, and from what I read, these images were chosen out of genuine interest. And, of course, I'm not a member of one of the groups represented here, so I'm sure that makes it easier for me to swallow, but this album cover would be inexcusable by my standards if it were released today. Fire of Love got my attention, and I'll put it in rotation. Four stars.
Vraiment pas mauvais ! J’aurais aimé aimer plus que ça, mais ça demeure un très bon album, pas loin d’être dans mes cordes.
Nice mix of punk and blues as described but all the songs blended together for me/sounded same.
Rockabilly but spoken word
Unhinged, in a good way.
Bit all over the place, forgettable for me
I had never heard of The Gun Club before this, and honestly, this album was a blast. Pure psychobilly with punk speed, and it hits right away. Eleven tracks in forty minutes is the sweet spot for this kind of thing. What really sold me was the slide guitar running through so many of the songs. It gives everything this gritty, bluesy bite, and I will always give bonus points when a rock band knows how to use slide right. It felt raw, fun, and way more interesting than I expected. I’ll definitely be checking out more of their stuff. Favorite song: She’s Like Heroin to Me
Boring. Not necessarily bad just boring. Cool drink of water blues sucks though. That one was almost painful.
Never heard of The Gun Club before, nor did I know this record, probably because I lived on the other side of the Atlantic, and was well immersed in the UK punk rock bands and beyond. But this is not bad, and in retrospective, I can clearly hear where the Pixies or the White Stripes got their inspiration from. It also blends rockabilly influences, witch combined with punk, created this other genre I'm particularly fond of, psychobilly. So yeah, a pioneering album, going from punk to blues and rockabilly. But maybe because I heard it all before, it didn't impress me as much as it probably would have me back in the day, so 3/5.
I’m honestly a little annoyed with myself for only discovering this band now. This hits squarely in my wheelhouse: lo-fi, garage-leaning punk with a bluesy undercurrent that gives it some grit without overcomplicating anything. It’s raw in all the right ways. Simple, direct, and exactly the kind of thing I fall for.
One of my fave albums ever.
This was VERY inspirational, I mean it. I am grateful.
Sounded like an edgier blues slanted take on the velvet underground/lou reed.
Not my box of frogs. The songs and production were good, but I didn’t really get the vocals, kind of purposefully bad in a post punk way or new wave or whatever but I just didn’t find it enjoyable.
Nice punk feeling
I actually really enjoyed Fire Of Love. This band here was apparently one of the originators of punk music with blues, country and rockabilly elements and for this album being one of the first to have that sound, it does it very well. I thought that the general punk elements were my favorite part of the album with the guitars and everything but i also enjoyed a lot of the other genre elements on offer, mostly the rockabilly elements. Granted the album can get rather repetitive with the later songs being bigger offenders of this and I'm not the biggest fan of the points where the music goes very quiet but i still really enjoyed this album for what it did. Best Song: Sex Beat Worst Song: For the Love of Ivy
Shouty post punk. Again.