Since Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis’ reunion, they’ve been pretty consistent in releasing quality, fresh material. 2017’s ‘The Missing Peace’ set the standard. And since, we’ve gotten another studio album (The Devil You Know), two live outings (Live in Milan and Cocked and Loaded Live), a couple of singles (Crawl) and even a Christmas tune (Another X-mas in Hell, also featured on ‘The Devil You Know’). And the streak now continues with the new ‘Checkered Past.’
‘Checkered Past’ is the next logical step for L.A. Guns after ‘The Devil You Know.’ The two albums really compliment each other. While ‘The Missing Peace’ was rooted more in blues groove and even some light prog elements. ‘The Devil You Know’ and ‘Checkered Past’ sit right in the raw, aggressive and even at times punk tinted wheelhouse. Sure, there’s plenty of pocket jams on them. But the core elements remain. However, ‘Checkered Past’ has more of a heady ballad feel at times. There’s certainly a fair amount of ballad material. But it’s always that great, darker L.A. Guns vibe.
The album opens with an energetic one, two, three punch. ‘Cannonball,’ ‘Bad Luck Charm’ and ‘Living Right Now’ all contain that signature L.A. Guns sound. Heavy, ratty, sleazy and loaded with attitude. ‘Get Along’ and ‘If It’s Over Now’ are high quality back to back ballads. Both containing a mid tempo drive and that haunting vibe that only L.A. Guns can seem to conjure within the genre. ‘Better Than You’ is a classic killer riff that borders on the line between metal and hard rock. Complete with Phil Lewis’ melodic, yet raw vocal tendencies and you’ve got a banger. Also, major props to this line up’s rhythm section. Johnny Martin (bass), Shane Fitzgibbon (drums) and Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar) all lay it down just like the classic line up. It really is a complete, L.A. Guns band.
‘Knock Me Down’ contains a bit of twang. Without sacrificing the hard rock sound we all know and love. ‘Let You Down’ is a spacey, laid back ballad that harkens back to the ‘Cocked and Loaded’ days. Complete with an otherworldly, Tracii Guns guitar solo. ‘That Ain’t Why’ brings in the tasty blues groove before the album closes out with the back beat, throw down ‘Physical Itch.’ Both contain excellent riffs and are one hell of way to close an album out.
All in all ‘Checkered Past’ is yet another L.A. Guns album that knocks it out of the park. Cementing further that Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns are strongest together. They remain one of the most underrated songwriting duos in rock. And ‘Checkered Past’ is a great representation of why they deserve and have always deserved more mainstream success.
