Album Review: L.A. Guns - "Checkered Past"

 

It's fair to say that L.A. Guns' workrate has been impressive over the last few years since Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns decided to reunite to give things another go. 2017's The Missing Peace and 2019's The Devil You Know were the sound of a band rejuvenated packing an added heaviness which proved that this band were doing anything but quietly sticking to their trademark sound. And now with Checkered Past, the current incarnation of the band might just have come up with their strongest effort yet.

Opener Cannonball kicks in with a scuzzy Slaughter & The Dogs style riff from Tracii before Phil's snarling vocals kick in - it's like a heavier version of One More Reason from the band's classic debut. The sleazy strut of Bad Luck Charm meanwhile sounds like something that could've sat on Cocked And Loaded albeit with a more stripped down back-to-basics sound which suits it down to the ground. The freewheeling Living Right Now sounds like some great cross between the Heavy Metal Kids and early Circus of Power, ploughing ahead like an out of control steamroller.

Get Along is a unexpected surprise as the group drop the pace for an almost countrified style shuffle which actually reminds me a bit of Oasis' Champagne Supernova and I mean that in a good way I promise you. Similarly, the dark If It's Over Now sounds like one of the poison slowies off the group's underrated Vicious Circle album which we covered yesterday on Garbage Days Revisited.

The tempo picks up again with Better Than You with its Slave To The Grind style twisting riff and Phil spitting out pure venom before the rumbling Knock Me Down comes across like a moody mid-tempo Judas Priest number and Dog takes the ferocity up into almost thrash territory. Let You Down is a big dark slow-building epic which is a distant cousin of the classic Over The Edge. Which just leaves the classic Aerosmith style twist and turn of That Ain't Why and the sludgy riff of Physical Itch to sign this one off.

I was really impressed by this album - if the previous two L.A. Guns albums seemed like they were striking out for heavier territory, this sees them take those tricks and apply them to their classic template to produce the strongest album that's come out under this band's name for many moons. A good mix of the heaviosity of the band's most recent output with the melodies, hooks and attitude of their classic material, this is a winner. Strongly recommended.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 (9/10)

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