Gear Blues


Gear Blues is an album by the band Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, released in 1998. It was released in the United States in 2000.

Critical reception

NME wrote: "Armed with an arsenal of hooks, chiselled cheekbones and oodles of self belief, Thee Machine Gun Elephant are credible heirs to the garageland throne, and, if that wasn’t enough, a paragon of internationalism." LA Weekly thought that "vocalist Yusuke Chiba is a hoarsely authoritative presence, and bassist Koji Ueno and drummer Kazuyuki Kuhara have eliminated the Who-derived busyness of their early approach in favor of seamless, no-nonsense propulsion." Rolling Stone concluded that "the attention to visceral detail is what distinguishes Gear Blues from mere Nuggets and Brit-punk slavishness."
AllMusic wrote that "the album ends with a bittersweet, melancholy, space punk groove on 'Danny Go'."

Track listing

  1. "West Cabaret Drive" – 5:26
  2. "Smokin' Billy" – 3:26
  3. "Satanic Boom Boom Head" – 2:50
  4. "Dog Way" – 3:15
  5. "Free Devil Jam" – 2:42
  6. "Killer Beach" – 5:10
  7. "Brian Down" – 4:45
  8. "Hotel Bronco" – 1:43
  9. "Give the Gallon" – 5:15
  10. "G.W.D." – 3:52
  11. "Ash" – 3:34
  12. "Soul Wrap" – 4:14
  13. "Boiled Oil" – 4:10
  14. "Danny Go" – 4:54
  15. "Jenny" – 3:22
The European release does not contain "Jenny" but has an extra bonus disc with the tracks "Get Up Lucy" and "Cisco".