Don't ya just looooove promo copy? "Think Courtney Love, Traci Lords and Janis Joplin, but with the fire of Guns N' Roses and the charisma of Iggy Pop," froths the record-label bio for CJ Sleez, a trashy blonde who wears tight leather, high heels and more tattoos than most men. Too bad this EP from Sleez and her three-man band of studs doesn't live up to that billing. To be fair, Back From the Brink certainly relies on Gn'R and Pop influences, as well as early New York Dolls and AC/DC, plus maybe even The Plasmatics. But Janis Joplin? I think not. In fact, this stuff isn't even in the same league as Joan Jett. The six songs here eventually meld into little more than monotonous noise backed by a voice that's not always as arresting as Sleez's appearance. She wrote all the songs, but she seems more intent on pimping her bad-girl 'tude in lines like "Lips numb, black tongue baby/Dirty girl out looking for fun/Spread wide, skin tight sweetie/Dirty little girl gonna feel alright" than improving her musical stature. (Amazingly, with only one full-length CD to her name, Sleez thinks she's seen enough debauchery to pen a recently published tell-all called Poor Little Bitch Girl: Unapologetic Memoirs from the Queen of Raunchy Rock 'n' Roll.)
At its core, this is nothing but Seventies- and Eighties-fueled sleaze 'n' roll — and a prime example of who not to let your daughters grow up to be.
Track Listing:
1) Blame Me
2) In the City
3) Skin Deep
4) Shallow Dive
5) Dirty Girl
6) The Best It Gets
Video: Backdoor Tease
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