L.A. GUNS‘ new album, “Leopard Skin”, will be released on April 4, 2025. It will mark the first fruit of L.A. GUNS‘ reunion with Cleopatra Records, a label known for its diverse roster and innovative approach to music production. The official music video for the LP’s second single, “Lucky Motherfucker”, which was directed by Jason Wisch, can be seen below.
“There’s the saying, ‘a leopard never changes its spots,'” L.A. GUNS‘ founding guitarist Tracii Guns says. “But even so, they have a million different spots. And they’re all unique. It’s the same with L.A. GUNS. We can’t shed our leopard skin, but there’s a lot of different spots in this band.”
Those spots run the gamut from early anthems like “Electric Gypsy”, “Rip And Tear” and “Over The Edge” to indelible ballads like “It’s Over Now” and “The Ballad Of Jayne” to more recent classics like “Speed”, “Cannonball” and now, the ten tracks that comprise the new album.
Not only is “Leopard Skin” hot on the heels of 2023’s “Black Diamonds” album, but is also L.A. GUNS‘ fifth studio effort in seven years, since the core team of guitarist and band founder Tracii Guns and singer Phil Lewis reunited in 2017. “Leopard Skin”, like the last few L.A. GUNS records, reconvenes the tight-knit lineup of Guns, Lewis, bassist Johnny Martin, guitarist Ace Von Johnson and studio drummer Adam Hamilton, but beyond that it is its own unique beast. True to form, it’s a hard-and-heavy, tough-as-nails L.A. GUNS set. But the music also presents the band at their funkiest, rowdiest, most classic-rock-worshipping best. And it’s clear they’re having a helluva lot of fun playing it.
Explains Tracii: “When we started doing records again in 2017, I wanted to be really aggressive. We hadn’t put out anything new in a lot of years, and we needed to be focused to have an impact. This one was a different approach. Musically, it was more about James Brown and soul music, with some ’70s sensibilities — things like Joe Walsh and THE ROLLING STONES and the NEW YORK DOLLS. And the process was more organic. It was, ‘Here’s a riff, go for it. Let’s see how many riffs we can build after this riff, and then going into the next riff.'”
The results speak for themselves. You want a four-on-the-floor AC/DC-style stomper? Cue up anthemic opener “Taste It”. Slippery funk-rock? Try out “Lucky Motherfucker” or “Don’t Gimme Away”. Rollicking ’70s-style glam? Drop the needle on “If You Wanna”. Swampy, slide guitar-laced grooves? Crank up the ZEP-tastic “The Grinder”.
Where does that position L.A. GUNS in 2025? Tracii returns to “Leopard Skin”. “The song title ‘Lucky Motherfucker’ kinda says it all,” he says. “Because I don’t know how many other bands that have been around almost 40 years are still out there not just touring consistently, but putting out records consistently, and the thing just keeps getting bigger and bigger from year to year.”
He continues: “So the work ethic is yielding what it’s supposed to, you know what I mean? The fans stay excited, we stay excited, and we keep making records. And as long as we have that opportunity and there’s a place for this music in the world, there’s no reason to ever stop.”
“Leopard Skin” track listing:
01. Taste It
02. Lucky Motherfucker
03. The Grinder
04. Hit And Run
05. Don’t Gimme Away
06. I’m Your Candy Man
07. Runaway Train
08. Following the Money
09. The Masquerade
10. If You Wanna
Last July, Tracii told On The Road To Rock podcast with Clint Switzer about the sound of L.A. GUNS‘ new LP: “It’s different than the other records. That’s the thing about L.A. GUNS, is I never know what’s gonna come out. I don’t know what mood I’m gonna be in or whatever, but I’m really proud of what I was able to record. And all the management and Phil and the guys, they’re freaking out, like, ‘Where’d this shit come from?’ So, yeah, I’m always most excited about L.A. GUNS. It’s the complete playground for me. I love it.”
L.A. GUNS‘ latest studio album, “Black Diamonds”, came out in April 2023. It was the fourth studio album since the much-welcome reunion of the band’s core foundation of Lewis and Guns. It followed the well-received studio albums “The Missing Peace”, “The Devil You Know” and “Checkered Past”, plus the live release “Made In Milan”, and a covers EP “Another Xmas In Hell”.
In April 2021, a settlement was reached between drummer Steve Riley and Guns and Lewis over the rights to the L.A. GUNS name. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Guns and Lewis continue to operate under the L.A. GUNS trademark, while Riley and his bandmates from the other version of L.A. GUNS were allowed to perform and record under the new name RILEY’S L.A. GUNS. Riley died in October 2023 at the age of 67.
L.A. GUNS was formed in 1983 and have sold over six million records, including 1988’s “L.A. Guns” and 1990’s “Cocked And Loaded”, both of which were certified gold. “Cocked And Loaded” contained the hit single “The Ballad Of Jayne” that went to No. 33 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 and No. 25 on the Mainstream Rock charts. From the mid-’90s to the mid 2000s, L.A. GUNS continued to tour and release new music. Following their successful performance at SiriusXM‘s Hair Nation festival in September 2016, L.A. GUNS went into the studio to record the critically acclaimed “The Missing Peace”, which was the highest-selling release for Frontiers Music Srl in 2017. Their 12th album, “The Devil You Know”, was released in 2019 to the same critical acclaim. Since reuniting, Tracii and Phil continue to tour around the world with L.A. GUNS.
Photo by Joe Schaeffer
Source: blabbermouth.net
