Customer Reviews

Miami

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4 star:		(3)
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You might notice that I've gone and reviewed this album twice. Why? Well, the first time I did so was when this album was out of print, and CD copies were selling on ebay for anywhere from $50-$100 (no joke), and therefore you really had to think twice about buying it. I'm one of the more devoted Gun Club fans you will probably ever encounter, and even I didn't buy the cd at that price. However, since the album has now been reissued, there's really no reason not to get it.

The Gun Club were somehow always identified as a punk rock band. Maybe its because of the time and place of their inception (los angeles in the early 80s), or maybe it was because of who they hung out with (Debbie Harry, Nick Cave and the Cramps are always mentioned in the same breath as them). Whatever the case, this album really illustrates how that term was inadequate to describe the band.

Sure, there are a few tracks that have the requisite jagged guitar playing and 4/4 drumming to qualify, but there's so much more here than that. It explores various different strains of American roots music, with a particular emphasis on country via the use of pedal steel guitar, and treats each with the same stripped down, back-to-basics approach. Its a demonstration that you can make very complex and compelling music without having 10 minute long, virtuosic solos or recording studios that look like they were designed by NASA. I suppose that sort of mentality about music is at the core of what punk rock is about, but there's probably more people out there who hear the term punk and automatically think mohawks and leather than there are who hear it and think of stuff like this.

The album starts off with "Carry Home", a rolling, dirty garage song that changes tempo suddenly and wouldn't sound out of place on the Nuggets box set. It goes from there through a sort of review of the aforementioned roots thing, and on to some weird tribal psychedelia ("Watermelon Man"), some traditional punk ("Bad Indian", "Sleeping in Blood City", etc), and then back to the roots thing with "John Hardy" and "Mother of Earth". The sound throughout is tinny and almost ghostly, as if it were recorded in the period it continually references. Throughout it all, Jeffrey Lee Pierce demonstrated his uncanny knack for conjuring up vivid imagery with the simplest language. He was one of the few rock songwriters capable of writing in a style that had attitude and sex appeal without sacrificing any emotional depth.

I'd hate to say something as trite as, "well if you like the White Stripes, you'll love this!", but I'm sure you'll hear echos of that same sort of vibe in the Gun Club's music. I'm not trying to put down anyone like that either, but there's something about the Gun Club, and this album in particular, that makes the most recent wave of garage-inspired hit-makers seem somewhat uninspired.

In other words, for less than $15, this album won't do you wrong. Unless you are the sort of rock fan who listens exclusively to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the usual staples of classic rock radio, I think you will like this album.

EDIT (6/11/06): I think the cover of Miami is one of the coolest album covers ever, if you feel similarly, check out the cover of the Twilight Singers' album "Blackberry Belle".

This album is very hard to find.

It has a very rootsy sound to it, with the squealing slide guitar licks of "Fire of Love" giving way to a more weepy, country sort of vibe. The songs match up well with any other Gun Club album, although at times it sounds as if this were an entirely different band than the one that recorded "Fire of Love" or "Mother Juno". The tone is a little more jangly and sharp than in either of those two albums. It resembles CCR in a way, and features Pierce's cover of "Run Through the Jungle". My favorite song on the album is "Bad Indian", on which the very simple punk rock drumming sounds superb.

Jeffrey Lee Pierce had amassed a cultish following in his lifetime (like any underground rocker worth their salt), and consolidated it upon his death. There are those who regard him as the most gifted pop songwriter of the last 25 years, if not ever. Its quite an extreme position to take, if you ask me, but certainly understandable once you delve into the Gun Club's body of work. His music and lyrics, neither of which seem particularly inspired upon first listen, have a peculiar way of getting under your skin and infecting your soul. It is strange to think how this band was lumped in with other 80's acts like Nick Cave and the Cramps, when the Gun Club was worlds apart from those bands.

The second greatest rock album ever recorded. The entire album has an organic transition, and should be listened to on "repeat," but stand out songs include "Calling Up Thunder" "Watermelon Man" and "Fire of Love." But the most outstanding song is the ballad "Texas Serenade" in which guitars and vocals alternate the lead and a haunting slide guitar cleans up and transitions us into the ether after an extended lead guitar solo has rent every last tear from your heart. It is as if we are watching the corpse twitch to stillness and the soul rise, while still surrounded by heat in the sweat of recent violence and the faint iron smell of rust and blood. A beautiful and moving song.

It is great to see this album back in circulation. I discovered The Gun Club by pure chance at a nightclub up in Portland, Oregon back in 1982, and was blown away by their performance. The "Miami" LP was released around this time; upon spinning it, I was pleased to hear the album lived up to the live performance I stumbled upon.

Every song on "Miami" is excellent, but three particular songs steal the show: the first two tracks "Carry Home" & "Like Calling On Thunder," and the final track "Mother of Earth." All three tunes are some of the most devastatingly beautiful pieces you will ever hear; Jeffrey Lee Pierce had a way of taking an already gripping song, and bringing out twice the emotion it originally possessed. This is especially evident in the sorrowful "Mother of Earth."

Sadly, Jeffrey Lee Pierce was quite self destructive, and one can only wonder how far The Gun Club would have gone otherwise. That said, Pierce and the band managed to record an impressive array of music considering his inner demons, and it was a shame to see so much of that work absent from the stores in recent years. There are lots of good Gun Club CDs now available, but I would rate "Miami" as their greatest work.

Some great raunch 'n' roll by the Gun Club on this fine album. I always liked this one even more than the more acclaimed "Fire of Love." Just something about the spirit of the songs and Jeffrey Lee Pierce's emotive and tortured vocals really captivated me. when he yells "Daddy's dead on the lawn" you can picture the carcass there on the grass. Vivid stuff. The bonus disc of live material is good but not something I'll go back and listen to very often. But the original album is a definite must listen.

What to say about Gun Club ? Jeffrey Lee Pierce's voice is (was :-)) unique. Their blend of blues, 50's rock'n roll and punk was original in 1980 and still is, despite having generated many followers. Why "Miami" rather than "Fire of Love" or "The Las vegas Story" ? All 3 are excellent, but "Miami" is underrated in my opinion. You hear less guitar than on the other albums (well, you still here it), but Pierce's voice is best on this one. The songs on this album are less punk and more diverse. The music speaks for itself ...

I remember fifteen years ago I was driving around this woman and her daughter (legal age) who were both whores in Boise and playing this tape on the car stereo and they said that it was the worst music in the world, but that was because their souls were bad or occluded and they were used to having filth shoveled down their throats (etc.) at a consistent and steady rate. How is your soul? Proceed with confidence.

Most people tend to like "Fire of Love" or "Las Vegas Story", but I think this one is a tad superior. It just seems to flow so elegantly from track to track. Here they sing about youth and Americana. I have about 400 or so albums and this is one of my most played albums.

The Gun Club simply never regained the heights they hit on the Fire of Love album. That combo of punk rock meets rockabilly meets swampy blues is one of the best records of its kind, up there with the best stuff the Cramps did. But if you're looking for a second Gun Club album to listen to, this one is worthwhile. "Texas Serenade" is one of their best tracks, the song "Fire of Love" could've been on that album, and "Brother and Sister" is a feisty rocker with a cool riff. But the cover of CCR's "Run Through the Jungle," a perfect song for the Gun Club to play, falls flat, as do several of the other tracks. Can't help but think the absence of Kid Congo Powers took some of the bite out of the band here. If you're looking for one Gun Club album to get, go straight to Fire of Love. If you've got that one and love it and want a second one, try this.