L.A. Guns are the Joan Collins of the 1980s Sunset Strip scene: either impervious to age, or with a really good plastic surgeon on speed dial.
Coinciding with their 40th anniversary, and coming eight years after previously estranged singer Phil Lewis and guitarist Tracii Guns kissed and made up after years of lobbing insults at each other from across the street, the most surprising thing about Leopard Skin is that they’ve never used that title before.
But there’s no point in these Hollywood big cats changing their spots at this stage. Lucky Motherfucker and Follow The Master are classic late-period sleaze rock, all lowdown, chugging guitar from Guns and tomcat howl from the ever-characterful Lewis.
They garnish The Grinder with some cool slide guitar, and serve up a restrained ballad with The Masquerade, but no one’s reinventing the wheel here, and after 40 years nor should they be. Joan would be proud.
