Stephen
You just can't go wrong with a band putting Amy Reid on the front fuckin' cover and swaggering with the high octane gasoline burning riffs that'll bring back memories to heyday of Skid Row in late 80s. Christian Dorris' crazy screaming even compared to the youth-gone-wild Sebastian Bach in his prime age. Recorded in 1995, Slam Alley's old songs were eventually released as EP in 2009 by American indie label, Demon Doll Records.
"Dogz Go Downtown" is a superb opener, the heavy rockers with anthemic chorus is an authentic proof that Slam Alley doesn't chew any grunge in their mouth even it's 1995. "21 Fire" is slowing down the tempo, the riffs are fantastic and overall another great track of the album. "Punk Polluted Zoo" puts Dorris' vocal as the highlight, his furious rappin' skill accompanied with talk-box guitar solos steals the show. "Cry For Freedom" is the weakest here and "For Heaven Sake" is an acceptable power ballad.
Nothing's really new but if only this was out in 1990 and they managed to make a full length studio album, I believe they had the chance of, at least claiming minor commercial success like what Roxy Blue or Trixter did in the later day of glam era. If you like Skid Row, some say this is another clone of the gang, but I guess they're highly influenced by the band and still got their own signature sound. This is one of the fastest selling CD on the label's site, and probably they ran out of stock, so if you happen to find this for a reasonable price, don't hesitate.