CATS in BOOTS
Cats in Boots - Kicked & Klawed (EMI) 1989
1. Shot Gun Sally (3:28)
2. Nine Lives (Save Me) (3:47)
3. Her Monkey (4:08)
4. Whip it Out (4:14)
5. Long, Long Way From Home (4:15)
6. Coast to Coast (3:17)
7. Every Sunrise (6:13)
8. Evil Angel (3:30)
9. Bad Boys Are Back (4:11)
10. Judas Kiss (3:25)
11. Heaven on a Heartbeat (3:48)
Cats in Boots are a sleazy, hard rock band who sound is akin to bands like Faster Pussycat, Love/Hate, Sleez Beez, etc. The band was made up of Yasuhiro "Butch" Hatae (bass) and Takashi "Jam" O'Hashi (guitars), both of Japanese decent, as well as Americans Randy Meers (drums) and vocalist Joel Ellis. Ellis has a raspy rock 'n' roll voice that is most certainly influenced by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith fame. His voice fits perfectly with the groove and shake of the music which is built around power-packed riffs, a pounding rhythm section and a ton of attitude. All together they have created a fun, energetic, bluesy hard rock record with a bit of a metallic sheen. There were just so many of these bands being pumped out by the major labels at the end of the 80's, with the popularity of Guns n Roses, that many bands just fell between the cracks, despite being very competent bands. Cats in Boots are clearly one of those bands.