Mother Juno

Mother Juno is an album by The Gun Club, released in 1987.[9][10] It was produced by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins.

Mother Juno
Studio album by The Gun Club
Released	October 17, 1987
Recorded	Summer 1987
Studio	Hansa Tonstudio, Berlin
Genre	Post-punk, punk rock, alternative rock, blues rock
Length	41:14
Label	Fundamental[1] Red Rhino[2]
Producer	Robin Guthrie[3]
The Gun Club chronology
The Las Vegas Story (1984) Mother Juno (1987) Pastoral Hide and Seek (1990)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Guardian	[3]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	7/10[8]

"Yellow Eyes" was originally entitled "Funky Junkie"; "Nobody's City" was originally "Sleepy Times Blues." The original recordings of Mother Juno were released as Mother Berlin in 2015 on Bang! Records, containing an additional track, "Country One."

Production

The album was recorded in Berlin.[11] The recording took 14 days.[2] The cover used a painting by Claus Castenskiold, the Danish-born painter.[1]

Release

The album did well on the independent and college charts, peaking at #3 on the UK indie and #1 on the CMJ charts.[12]

Critical reception

Trouser Press wrote: "On songs like 'The Breaking Hands' ... producer Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins spins a delicately layered web of sound; more straightforward numbers like the shimmying 'Thunderhead' recast the old energy in slightly more linear terms, although guest Blixa Bargeld does his best to tilt 'Yellow Eyes' on its axis."[1] The Rolling Stone Album Guide called the album "swamp music for thinking people."[7]

Track listing

Original 1987 album

All tracks composed by Jeffrey Lee Pierce

1. "Bill Bailey" – 3:39
2. "Thunderhead" – 3:28
3. "Lupita Screams" – 3:12
4. "Yellow Eyes" – 6:30
5. "The Breaking Hands" – 4:12
6. "Araby" – 3:01
7. "Heart" – 3:59
8. "My Cousin Kim" – 2:47
9. "Port of Souls" – 4:49

2005 Remaster (SFTRI 765)

All tracks composed by Jeffrey Lee Pierce

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

Personnel

The Gun Club

• Jeffrey Lee Pierce - vocals, guitar, whistle
• Kid Congo Powers - guitar
• Romi Mori - bass; lead guitar on "The Breaking Hands"
• Nick Sanderson - drums

with:

• Blixa Bargeld - guitar on "Yellow Eyes"

Technical

• Lincoln Fong - engineer
• André Giere - assistant engineer
• Claus Castenskiold - sleeve painting

References

1. "Gun Club". Trouser Press. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
2. "Reloaded Gun Club Takes Aim Again". Los Angeles Times. April 3, 1988.
3. Simpson, Dave (December 2, 2005). "CD: The Gun Club, Mother Juno" – via www.theguardian.com.
4. AllMusic Review
5. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Volume 4: MUZE. p. 39.CS1 maint: location (link)
6. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 514.
7. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 294.
8. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 172.
9. Buckley, Peter (October 9, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843531050 – via Google Books.
10. "The Gun Club | Biography & History". AllMusic.
11. "The Gun Club's 'Mother Juno' Treated to Deluxe Vinyl Reissue". exclaim.ca.
12. Thompson, Dave (October 9, 2000). Alternative Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780879306076 – via Google Books.