Cargo Records

Mother Juno

After touring for the 1984 release The Las Vegas Story was complete, there was a two-year hiatus until Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Kid Congo joined forces again to record.

Mother Juno, the result, is a polished album that's both sobering and sober. The album cover painting by Claus Castenskiold, known for his FALL sleeves, captures the mood: through a car windshield revealing a pair of dice and a plastic Jesus, we see a forlorn couple driving through the desert, a booze bottle on its side on the seat between them. The man's face is grim; the woman's got her eyes covered, but can't help peeking. Songs like "The Breaking Hands" resemble the work of Jeffrey's solo album Wildweed and producer Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins spins a delicately layered web of sound. The more straightforward numbers like the shimmying "Thunderhead" recast the old energy in slightly more linear terms, although guest Blixa Bargeld (Einsturzende neubauten, Bad seeds) does his best to tilt "Yellow Eyes" on its axis. The lineup for this recording is rounded out by bassist Romi Mori and drummer Nick Sanderson. Mother Juno is thought by many to be the last important and extremely essential GUN CLUB release. (originally released in UK in 1987 and released in US in 1996).

Track Listing

1. Bill Bailey
2. Thunderhead
3. Lupita Screams
4. Yellow Eyes
5. Breaking Hands
6. Araby
7. Hearts
8. My Cousin Kim
9. Port of Souls
10. Crab Dance
11. Nobody's City