1981

After changing their name from CREEPING RITUAL to THE GUN CLUB as requested by Keith Morris of THE CIRCLE JERKS, the L.A. foursome independently released "Fire of Love", a trashy mix of slacker punk, rockabilly and blues. Guitarist / frontman Jeffrey Lee Pierce leads the band through eleven tracks of jangly, driving anthems spiked with his outlandish, panicky crooning. Remarkably, it's tough to tell the difference between THE GUN CLUB's gut-level originals like "Jack on Fire" and the covers on the album (like Robert Johnson's "Preachin the Blues", and Tommy Johnson's "Cool Drink of Water") as track after track of quality 'naw, screw it' rock 'n roll flashes by. Although the band would never quite top the swaggering perfection of the debut ("Mother Juno" does come close), they were able to crank out quite a few keepers before Pierce's untimely demise in 1996.

Picks of the litter, 1981: