When I first heard that Slash Puppet had some old tunes recorded that I hadn’t heard before, and that they were about to release them onto CD for the first time I almost came in my pants (figuratively speaking of course)! It wasn’t all that many years ago that I heard Slash Puppet for the first time on a Much Music rock video show. Being from Canada I couldn’t believe that I missed out on this sleazy band from my home country. I quickly tracked down their 1993 EP and it was everything I imagined it would be – and I left it at that.
That is until now, when No Strings Attached arrived in the mail. Could this album live up to that lonely EP or was Slash Puppet nothing more than a one trick pony? Let me tell you right now, these guys have more than one trick up their sleeves. In this case there are eight of them, eight songs that grab you by the balls and completely rock. If you haven’t heard Slash Puppet before (in which case you should rectify that situation immediately) imagine Skid Row music being sung by a gruff throated frontman. Even though the music is top-notch, it really is the voice of Mif that takes Slash Puppet over-the-top. He has one of those unique voices custom made for hard rock, at times sounding like a more accessible version of Ratt‘s Stephen Pearcy.
The first song on this release is also the song that first exposed me to Slash Puppet, the raw “Slow Down”, which was the single and video release from the long lost EP. It would have been hard to top that song, but the band a great job trying. In fact I’ll say right now that “Evil Woman” almost surpasses “Slow Down”, it is everything a sleaze rock song should be. “Bad Girls”, “Turn It On” and “Overload” are more of the same, great rock songs with attitude, steady rhythms and wailing guitars. All eight songs represented here are a dream come true for 80s hard rock fans.
For my money this is the best CD Suncity has released to date. Without a doubt it is a must have for fans of dirty rock’n’roll, and contains zero filler. Listening to these early Slash Puppet songs just makes me wonder how the band didn’t become household names, someone obviously dropped the ball. No Strings Attached is easily one of the best CDs of 2007, a must have!
01. Slow Down
02. Squeeze It In
03. Hard On Love
04. Bad Girls
05. Turn It On
06. Evil Woman
07. Some Kind O’ Lady
08. Overload
Band:
Mif – lead vocals
Frank ‘Bart’ Bartoletti – guitar and backing vocals
Lou Garscadden – guitar and backing vocals
Pete Dove – bass and backing vocals
Franklin Wyles – drums, percussion and backing vocals
Production:
Produced by Slash Puppet and Archy Hachey. Re-mastered by Gregg Fulkerson and Chris Fatouros.
Password: Plotn08