the gun club the las vegas story
Day two. An album that makes me think of summer….
Most of their discography is full of summer for me, but this is the one that has the most heat: The Gun Club, The Las Vegas Story.
This came out in 1984, and was unheard by me until probably 1987. I was introduced to The Fire of Love, Miami, and this album at pretty much the same time, and along with a couple of other artists newly discovered (The Birthday Party, The Virgin Prunes, Sex Gang Children), The Gun Club changed my life…
My musical view of the world around me. The bands I played in, the friends I hung out with, the direction my life was going – it all changed drastically between 1986 and 1988.
The Gun Club were one of those pivotal bands during those years, and the songs on this album, they still hit me like a perfect summer.
From that first drawling Jeffrey Lee Pierce line, always reminding me of some blues punk Burroughs, into the thump of “Walkin’ with the Beast” to the heartbreak of “My Dreams”. From the Leon Thomas / Pharoah Sanders penned “The Master Plan” to the ache of “Give Up the Sun”. This album heats me up.
There was a magic that this incarnation created, with Kid Congo Powers (a personal hero), Patricia Morrison, and Terry Graham.
There is no denying the power of the first two albums, but for the me this album encompasses the lust and the loss that summers always seem to bring.
Marcel Feldmar 