It was almost 40 years ago that L.A. Guns established themselves as the undisputed sleaze kings of the Sunset Strip, and, eventually, the world. At this point in time, most bands in their position would be content to lay back, rest on their rock n’ roll laurels and trot out the hits on endless repeat for the fans.

Instead, L.A. Guns, in true down n’ dirty form, are grinding with the April 4 release of their 15^th studio album, LEOPARD SKIN, on Cleopatra Records. “There’s the saying, ‘a leopard never changes its spots,’” 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.”

LEOPARD SKIN  is their 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 Tracii Guns, Phil Lewis, bassist Johnny Martin, guitarist Ace Von Johnson and 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.

Tracii returns to LEOPARD SKIN. “The song title ‘Lucky MF’ 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.”