Search - Gun Club :: Pastoral Hide & Seek / Divinity

I detected you by the ringing bells...

G. Rao | san francisco | 10/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like any of the Gun Club's albums, this cd is somewhat hard to find (although not nearly the collector's item that Miami or The Las Vegas Story currently are), and if you are lucky enough to stumble across a copy you should definitely buy it. It showcases the end stage of Jeffrey Lee Pierce's creative life. The songs are a lot mellower and more slickly produced than any of his previous works, and even though that robs them of a little fire, they are still a testament to Pierce's craftsmanship. In a manner somewhat akin to Prince, Pierce was able to make very expressive and melodic songs out of seemingly the sparest and most basic parts. His ability to blend words and tunes together placed him on the top shelf of rock songwriters, although I hesitate to use the dreaded "p-word" when describing his lyrics. By this stage in his career, arbitrary terms like "punk rock" or "rootsy" were irrelevant. That stretch of road was behind him. In fact, I see a great deal of similarity between the latter day Gun Club and the latter day Led Zeppelin. Some of the bluesy intensity of earlier masterpieces is clearly missing, but has been replaced by a keen subtlety that has a soothing rather than cathartic feel. On the Pastoral Hide and Seek half of this release, the band scratches out a few slow to mid tempo numbers that are equal parts ballad and funk, my favorite being the swervy "St. John's Divine", with its Marquee Moon-ish verses and Zeppelin-lite choruses. The Divinity half of the album continues with more of the same, although with the tempos turned up a notch at places. "Sorrow Knows" might be one of the tightest grooves Pierce ever laid down, and owes a great deal to the nimble fingers of bass player Romi Mori. "Richard Speck" is also a great song, showcasing some of that wonderful harmony of sighs you might've already heard on previous albums, such as Miami.If you are brand new to this band, you may want to supplement this purchase with a copy of either "Fire of Love" or "Mother Juno", as this album is more of an epilogue to that segment of the band's lifetime. If you are already a fan, however, you ought to have sought this out long ago. So go now and find it quickly, before the ebay prices skyrocket."