Distorted, savage blues have long been a cherished American institution, from the satanic verses of Robert Johnson through the whacked-out mumbo jumbo of Captain Beefheart to the high-voltage punk blues of the early White Stripes. And in the annals of frenzied, voodoo-addled blues legend, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club stand alone as the undisputed kings of swamp punk: blues twisted into a barely recognizable form by drugs, black magic, and white kids barely learning to play their instruments. Fire Of Love dropped in 1981 and almost immediately changed the face of American roots music. While similar roots-punk groups like X were indulging their artier inclinations through poetic punk, and The Cramps were hamming it up and inventing "psychobilly", The Gun Club went straight for the jugular, hammering out eleven tracks of fiendish death rock that pulled together the most macabre aspects of blues, country, and primitive rock 'n' roll to create something altogether new and shocking. Jeffrey Lee Pierce's primal howl and descriptions of "huntin' for niggers down in the dark" and "fuck[ing] you 'til you die" still manage to sound both haunting and exhilariting, while the band creates a tense, sparse atmosphere of bottomless bass and slide guitar to back up his fearsome ranting. The band's frantic rendition of Robert Johnson's "Preachin' The Blues" teems with cathartic energy, while the reckless insanity of "For The Love Of Ivy" remains an unparalleled peak in roots rock nearly three decades after its recording. Elsewhere, "Ghost On The Highway" and "Fire Spirit" brim with horrific imagery and punk vigor, cementing Fire Of Love's reputation as a stone-cold classic from start to finish.
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