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The Gun Club
United States - Los Angeles, CA

DEATH PARTY 7"/12" No Track Listing Available Label: Animal Records Format: 7"/12" Released: 1983

Reviews: When we last looked upon the Gun Club, two members, Ward Dotson and Terry Graham quit in disgust, "Ranking" Jeffrey Lee slithered off to New York City and made himself another l'il ol' band comprised of guitarist Jim Duckworth (Panther Burns) and drummer Dee Pop (Bush Tetras). "Death Party" is an understandably transitional work. Although Pop and Duckworth are technically better than Graham and Dotson, they seem to lack their raw, sincere qualities. But the problem is not the band. The songs don't burn the way they used to. Musically and lyrically they are rehashes of Pierce's formula of an American collage of sex, violence and desire. On "Death Party", Pierce seems to have gotten farther away from traditional American music and themes. This is definitely a New York record. The tone of "House on Highland Avenue" is uncharacteristically sentimental. Only on the title cut do the Gun Club regain some of their former glory. Duckworth experiments with enough reverb to give you a migraine. They have not forgotten the vision of ugly modern rockabilly. This is not a bad record, but those who have been following the band may feel a bit cheated. -Barbara Rice (from Truly Needy Vol. 2 No. 2, May 1983)