Slam St. Joan

Fronted by Rob Creek, SSJ was the Windy City version of L.A. Guns. In particular, Creek's vocals came off sounding like Phil Lewis, while the group was powered by guitarists George Karl and Ray Rodriguez (3). In terms of sound, Slam St Joan have definite similarities to LA Guns, playing the same style of sleazy, blues-edged Sunset Strip rock. Chicago based Slam St. Joan was originally known as Valentino (53), having released an EP in 1989 under that name. Slam St. Joan toured the upper Midwest relentlessly during the early '90s, before dropping down the Saved by Grace album in 1994. Listening to Saved by Grace, you can picture Karl and Rodriguez armed with '80s super-strat styled shred guitars. Overall this is a solid album and will appeal to fans of bands like LA Guns, Kix (3), Cinderella (3) and Bulletboys. Singer Creek and guitarist Karl still play together to this day, in Chicago covers band Gooroos.