Search - Jeffrey Lee Pierce :: Wildweed

Maybe Jeffrey Lee's best album

G. Rao | san francisco | 09/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have the older release, without the 2 bonus tracks on it, but I consider it one of the best of Jeffrey Lee Pierce, putting on the short list for best rock albums of 80s. It mixes punk, soul, rockabilly and spoken word foolishness, setting everything atop a foundation of lightweight funk, and coating it all with a glossy new wave sheen. Pierce's sharp witted wordplay is at its finest on this album as well, with "Cleopatra Dream On" shining through in particular.



"Now the agents of grace have been stealing your lace

they cheated the race and they claimed your face

this is no place for Cleopatra dreaming on..."



I see that song as the greatest rival to Elvis Costello's "Beyond Belief" as the high point of 80s era lyrical dexterity. The album is short enough and catchy enough that its hard to not listen through the whole thing once you've put it on. All in all, its much more light-hearted pop oriented effort than the rest of the Gun Club catalog, and worth checking out for any Pierce fan."