One of the most unusual bands to emerge from the Los Angeles punk scene of the late '70s and early '80s, the Gun Club took the musical and thematic influences of blues, merged them with the frenetic attack of punk, and conjured a sound that was aggressive, evocative, and emotionally complex. Led by guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the Gun Club went through significant stylistic evolutions during their 16-year lifespan, but it was the internal struggle most clearly evoked in the blues that was Pierce's enduring obsession, and at a time when a growing number of L.A. bands were incorporating roots music, the Gun Club did it in a unique way. The group's most direct bluesy attack can be heard on their 1981 debut Fire of Love. They returned to that strength with 1987's Mother Juno, and came to a nuanced end with 1994's Lucky Jim.