Prophets Of Addiction - Babylon Boulevard (2010)

This is devilish and dirty sleaze metal that sounds like it was pluckled straight from the '80s. These diva's are fronted by Lesli Sanders, former bass player of Pretty Boy Floyd. He's been around a while but judging by the sound his latest band, things are lookin' pretty darn good. This isn't pompous glam rock, far from it, there's an element of tragedy and punkoid frenzy, the band coming across like the bastard offspring of the New York Dolls, Faster pussycat, the Ramones, Dogs D'Amour et al. Sanders is a reasonably accomplished vocalist who drools over the gritty riffs and drunken drums. Rev(X) and Amit Leeron provide the grimy leads, solo's and general sordid underbelly to this unhealthy affair. 'Hang Me Up' is a lazy, staggering mess of a track featuring a crashing glam drum stomp as Sanders slurs throughout, but it's endearing in its hazy way. The title track is killer too, infectious in its chorus and its grime ridden riff, it smooches with hanoi Rocks but refuses to party, instead Prophets Of Addiction have a darkness which taints their ragged wings. 'Self Portrait' suffers a maddening mood swing, it struts like W.A.S.P. under a frown, and you get the impression from this bunch of rock n' roll whores that they have lived the life, and it shines through in the music. This about as sleazy as an alleyway in downtown New York... 7.5/10