XXX Records America

Vamp Le Stat is from Sacramento, California. by singer / guitarist and creator Jeff Jones. (Formerly St Elmo’s Fire). On “Bloodline” it is the story of the vampire-stripper “Suzie” .”Madame Blue” tells this story and it runs through th album.

…it offers plenty of honest hard rock with a dash of Southern Rock and Blues. It can be oriented at Great White, The Graveyard Train, Britney Fox, Tora Tora, or Little Cesar, if you need comparisons.

Starts with the 7-minute opener “Madame Blue” on and you leave with a huge “swing Child” pounding a the path through the swampy regions of Florida and Louisiana.
…the thing for die-hard collector of music of the period.  (June 2011) see laso Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire, Spaced)

Vamp Le Stat back in 1993 released a six track indie sleaze rock classic that has long been sought after by those in the know. XXX Records has come to the party and re-released what was becoming a very pricey and hard to find collectable. Here’s what all the fuss was about….
Originally an indie release from 1993 with a huge cult status it’s great to see this lost gem get a reissue with bonus tracks. Last year saw Writer/Guitarist Jeff Jones put out a number of releases on the XXX Records label and we’ll look at some of his other stuff very soon…

As far as the mysterious Vamp Le Stat is concerned this is well worth picking up. Some ‘cult’ albums disappoint when you actually hear them but this one definitely has something. It may be a little raw, but in the context of this sort of sleazy hard rock with a bluesy tinge that only adds to the aural patina!

Imagine a sound somewhere between early Skid Row, Wildside and Motley Crue with a sort of later Cinderella or even Sweet F.A, stab at the blues and you’ll be somewhere close as far as sound goes ..and the songs themselves do stand up well. With a heap of bonus tracks/remixes from the original release it’s also good value and as most of the songs are on the longer side.

My personal favourite here is the bluesy swagger of ‘Swing Child’ and I favour the remix over the original. But there’s a lot to here to like, with only the ballad “She’s Not In Love Anymore” seemingly beating singer Tuttle’s rather Vince Neil-like voice.  In truth though these guys aren’t a band for ballads: “Guns 4 Hire” kicks ass; as does opener “Madame Blue” which builds into a great Motley metal stomp of a song. “Chains Around My Heart” too isn’t a bad stab at something a little more melodic. There’s a lose concept in there about a vampire stripper too, which can’t be all bad! Check it out if you get the chance and be sure to put Jeff Jones on your list of artists to investigate.
(Mark Diggins) July 2011 see also Spaced, Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire, Jeff Jones)

1993 was the worst possible time for a couple of guys from Sacramento to release the 6-track “Blood Line” . VAMP LE STAT was founded in 1991, practically in the middle of global upheaval in the music scene.  Nevertheless,  Jimmy Tuttle (v., g.) (g.) Jeff Jones, Brian Boozer (b., k.) and Bret Blackburn (d.)  were undeterred and wrote these 6 songs at the “bat cave” with lots of strip clubs surrounding them. . . Now comes this re-release with 5 bonus tracks enriched version, for the fan who was at that time not lucky enough to discover them the first time.
A glance at the cover makes me shiver, I just love those old zombie style! And the opener “Madame Blue” begins with a dark intro that could also serve as the soundtrack for old Italian zombie flicks. After that, the song drags on nearly 7 ½ minutes, in the spirit of old SKID ROW, LOVE / HATE, or TESLA. Hammer! “Swing Child” is the speed of many the same: dark and very dangerous. “Bitch” is dirty and mangy, therefore, again a cool hit. The ballad “She’s Not In Love Anymore” eases the atmosphere is casually beautiful and a really nice cuddly tune. Provides a complete contrast as’ Guns 4 Hire ” killer double bass bursts, screaming guitar riffs and a  giant chorus. “Chain Around My Heart” concludes the original album
But that’s not enough, because there are still 5 other songs on the new version: “Madame Blue”, “Child Swing,” “She’s Not In Love Anymore ‘,’ Guns 4 Hire” and “Chain Around My Heart” as so-called Studio Reference mix. So a kind of beautiful  demo versions for the fan to listen to.
I must confess I have never heard of the band, although I am a big supporter of this time and this particular genre, but VAMP LE STAT convinced me fully. “Blood Line” has everything, this era of the 90’s to the early 1990s was so unique. And these Americans a few years earlier would be certain to land a major deal, because the songs on “Blood Line” are distinctive, well thought out and rock like hell! Do yourself a favor and listen to this part of cream. You can order this CD in a beautiful slipcase to the above Website or course, all MP-3 stores. (rated 8.5/10) see also Spaced, Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire, Jeff Jones)

Jeff Jones is what you call a muliti-talented person. He started out as the guitarist and founding member of melodic hard rock act St. Elmo’s Fire (with whom he released 4 albums between 86 and 92), he then went on to join glamsters Vamp Le Stat but in 94 he left the ranks of the band to record his first solo offering. 3 years later he was joined by former VLS drummer Bret Blackburn in Keester, a punk/alternative act and in 2006 he reapeared on the scene as a member of Amsterdam for their B.U.R.S.T. album . Last year Jeff thought the time had come to take matters in to his own hands when it comes to releasing and producing albums by new talented acts as well as giving new life to recordings by his former projects so he formed XXX Records America.
And one of the albums that has been honoured with a re-release is Vamp Le Stat’s 1993 EP “Bloodline”. Originally put out as an independant, fans-only package a limited 2000 copies were pressed so needless to say it quickly become a much sought after item for glam/hair metal fans.
While the original album contained a mere 6 tracks which nonetheless clocked in at more than 30 minutes, the 2011 version offers 11 cuts , comes in a limited edition collector’s package and has been given a remastering job.
The 5 bonus cuts are not new songs but recordings used for the “Bloodline” EP before its completion and feature no keyboards or intros.
Musically the band falls withing the glam/hair metal category but make no mistake their sound has the necessary balls and is far more grittier and raw than those of the majority of their colleagues.
Think a mix of early Sven Gali, Jones Street, Finster Baby and Bigg Mouth: a huge sound with a wall of guitars and grinding rhythms, great backing vocals, big pounding drums and the right amount of melody to keep the songs memorable. But of course the guys also have a sensitive side and they sure show it on the killer acoustic led “She’s Not In Love Anymore”.
Vocally mister Jimmy Tuttle can be described as a combination of Sebastian Bach, Tora Tora’s Anthony Corder and Dangerous Toys front man Jason McMaster. But Jimmy also handles the guitar parts along with Jeff and their delivery is sharp and precise like clock work while the rhythm section of bassist Brian Boozer and drummer Bret Blackburn produces the foundation for the band’s groovy, powerful sound.
Of the 6 tracks included on the original EP 5 are rockers which all get thumbs of from me but I want to give a special mention to the fast and furious “Guns 4 Hire” that can rival Skid Row’s “Slave To The Grind” for speed and heaviness and the by a monster riff driven “Bitch”.
Making this package complete is a first rate production job: thick, beefy and clear.
I enjoyed listening to this release and if you share my love for glam/hair metal you could do much worse than picking up a copy or at least give it the ear test. (PS)   see also, Rockhard, Spaced, Jeff Jones, Keester St. Elmo’s Fire)

Vamp Le Stat is a U.S. group that formed in the early nineties. Jeff Jones, the guitarist for St. Elmo’s Fire  decides to start from a new musical adventure. But the group name  shouldn’t confuse you into thinking that you’re talking about gothic music or the like. Here it  is hard rock of the purest angelic essence .

In fact, the timbre of Jimmy Tuttle has many similarities with that of Phil Lewis of LA Guns. And Vamp Le Stat “Bloodline” has a definite  high sleaze develops sound, much along the lines of the bands on the Sunset Strip California.

“Bloodline” is a six-track EP, released originally in 1993. But the hand of Jeff Jones and his label XXX Records, in 2010 this album has been reissued with the inclusion of several remixes of the same songs. Vamp Le Stat really had a very interesting sound …, it is a totally recommended for fans of rock.  (90/100 rating)
Review by Diego Ramirez May 2011  (see also, Keester, Spaced, St. Elmo’s Fire)

..the Vampiric adventures of the French noble young person of Lestat province – the imaginary Anne Rice character – caused fascination and caused followers. There is no doubt that  VAMP LE STAT used this legendary light-haired boy  as a starting point  and took it to  another level. This Californian formation of Glam/Hard-Rock was born in the 90 ‘ S, under the supervision of guitarist JEFF JONES (in the past a musician with ST. ELMO’S FIRE),  accompanied by singer Jimmy TUTTLE, bass player Brian BOOZER and beater Brett BLACKBURN.

… In the beginning, they were six-titles  now decorated today with five bonus tracks in this reissue  from XXX Records. VAMP LE STAT  was the stereotype of the American band at the end of the 80 ‘ S and at the beginning of 90 ‘ S  in the spirit of MOTLEY CRUE. The best piece, remain in my eyes Guns 4 Hire. The group serves up a pleasant ballad also – i.e. an semi-acoustics composition, semi-electric, sweetened choruses and an  piano in addition – entitled She’s Not In Love Anymore, . As regards to the  bonus tracks, there are remixes of  Madame Blue, Swing Child, She’s Not In Love Anymore, Guns 4 Hire and Chain Around My Heart. Rate it 18/20! (see also Spaced, Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire, Jeff Jones)

Well, this is a re-issue of the first album of Californian Glam rockers VAMP LE STAT, titled “Bloodline”. VAMP LE STAT was formed in 1991, but it was 1992 when the band really came together. The first line-up of VAMP LE STAT existed of Jimmy Tuttle (vocals, guitar), Jeff Jones (guitar, vocals), Brian Boozer (bass, keyboard, vocals) and Bret Blackburn (drums). This debut album “Bloodline” was released in 1993, and was meant for their fans. At that time there were only 2000 copies pressed of “Bloodline”. So, now “Bloodline” is re-issued by XXX Records America with a new packaging and with 5 bonus tracks. on the album.  Anyway, let’s get back to this album. While I was listening to Bloodline several times, VAMP LE STAT reminded me musically of bands such as BON JOVI, POISON, LED ZEPPELIN, KINGDOM COME and SKID ROW. And I must admit that it still sounds nice after all those years. The band existed of good musicians and Tuttle is a pretty good singer as well. Also the production is good, which was done by Jones. So, “Bloodline” is still a nice Glam-, Hard Rock album which Glam fans should check out (also this re-release is  a limited edition ). The ballad “She’s Not In Love Anymore” sounds nice, . “Guns 4 Hire” is a fast rocker with double bass drums, . Anyway, I would say that the best songs on “Bloodline” are the original album versions of “Madame Blue”, “Swing Child”, “Bitch”, “Guns 4 Hire” and “Chain Around My Heart”.

see also St. Elmo’s Fire, Spaced, Keester

This band hails from Sacramento, Cali., and in the 90’s they released a now much sought after release “Bloodline”, which was in the vein of 80’s style hard rockers Bon Jovi, Bullet Boys, Skid Row and Motley Crue. They are back now with the re-release of that album and featuring bonus remixed tracks. I was aware of the band after finding the original release of Bloodline (and yes my copy was also sold on Ebay for a nice price, after finding it’s way to my Itunes collection) so it was cool to get this CD, currently out now on XXX Records. The CD features some hard hitting songs and the standouts are the Zeppelinesque Swing Child (think When The Levy Breaks type drum beat) and She’s Not in Love, which is a Poison type “I Wont Forget You” ballad. Guns For Hire is a straight up heavy metal burner and Chains Around My Heart is a sleazy Motley Crue Dr. Feelgood era rocker, with some nice slide guitar work. Guitar player and producer Jeff Jones could revive any 80’s band that is struggling, this guy has mad skills on the guitar and Whitesnake or Ratt or Quiet Riot should call him up ASAP! Overall a cool throwback to the 80’s-90’s hard rock scene that is missing from the Sunset strip these days.   (July 2011) see also Jeff Jones, Spaced, Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire)

Guitarist Jeff Jones is playing in this band (see seperate review about him).  Well, Jeff has written all the songs, and some of these songs are included on his “Rockhard ’86-’96” collection.
…there’s some really good songs here.  Stuff like “Guns 4 Hire”, which is a little faster and almost punk, (see also Rockhard, Spaced, Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire)

Back in 1991, Vamp Le Stat was formed in Sacramento, CA when Jeff Jones, formerly of St. Elmo’s Fire, joined up with Tuttle, Boozer, and Blackburn.  The quartet took an odd approach to their music as they refused to do live performances, instead choosing to hole up and do nothing but write and rehearse in a warehouse they called the “Batcave”.  By 1993 they had enough material to complete their first album, Bloodline, which became something of an underground cult classic, as only 2,000 copies were pressed.  I had been looking for a copy for quite some time as I had been a fan of St. Elmo’s Fire and had managed to score a pretty crappy CD-R bootleg that sounded like a copy of a copy of a copy.  However, they either sold for a LOT of money on eBay (saw one go for $127 once), or the copies I found were, once again, just copies.

Fast forward to 2010 when Jeff Jones formed his own label, XXX Records, and managed to fully secure the rights to all of the Vamp Le Stat material.   He then remixed, remasterd, and repackaged this limited edition release which contains the original 6 tracks as well as 5 “studio reference mixes”, as well as some rare photos of the band.

For those who have never had the chance to hear Vamp Le Stat before, I would describe their sound as “horror hair”, I guess, although I don’t think that really does this band or this conceptual album justice.  The methodical, chugging opening track, complete with some very “Dracula”-inspired keyboards and a Keifer Sutherland monologue from The Lost Boys, sets the story of Madame Blue, a vampire-turned-stripper whose real name is Suzie.  “Swing Child” has an acoustic guitar thread running throughout it, giving it a feel not all that far removed from some of Jon Bon Jovi’s Young Guns II material, but heavier.  “Bitch” is easily the heaviest and angriest tune on the album and features a group shouted chorus and a scorching solo from Jones.

The next two tracks are my favorites on this album, with the big-time ballad “She’s Not In Love Anymore” starting off with the gentle roll of thunder, an acoustic guitar, and a piano before kicking in with the drums and another big guitar solo from Jones.  This song has a very catchy chorus to it and is on par with (or above) most anything released on those “Monster Ballad” releases of the past few years.  “Guns 4 Hire” picks things back up full-speed ahead as Blackburn opens the albums’s fastest number with a nice machine-gun-fire quick drum intro with Tuttle’s snarling vocals and Jones’ guitars kicking things up yet another notch.  Album closer, “Chain Around My Heart” is a moody-feeling song, again featuring some almost gothic-sounding piano over some synthesized strings for the first 90 seconds or so, which are then buried by an onslaught of thick guitar chords and pounding drums with Tuttle in full-Vince Neil vocal mode on this track.  Another
solid, solid tune that rounds out (for now…hint, hint) the story of Madame Blue/Suzie.            

The last five tracks here are the “studio reference mixes” of all the previous tracks with the exception of “Bitch”.  “

As I have mentioned, lead vocalist Tuttle sounds at times like Vince Neil, at other times like Bret Michaels, and even occasionally like Sebastian Bach, but it is a combination that works very well throughout the album.  Jones is the primary songwriter here, but its his guitar work that is of particular note as it shows more depth than a lot of material put out by Vamp Le Stat’s contemporaries, especially since so many bands had decided to catch the grunge wave that was ripping through the nation.  Heavy and melodic at the same time, Jones’ talents are on display throughout the album, although his sound is more bluesy/hair metal-styled than the typically classic hard rock sound he delivered with St. Elmo’s Fire.  Boozer and Blackburn are a more than competent rhythm section for the band, and the overall sound is very clean and tight and the production is top-notch, especially considering the indie nature of the release.  I truly feel that had this band been able to release this album a couple of years earlier, Vamp Le State would likely have been pounced on by a major label.    

I am very glad I was finally able to score a proper sounding version of this album because it is truly a lost gem.  I do wish this was in a jewel case, as we all know about my complete disdain of digipacks and slip-cases, but the music is what I was after here, and that is what counts.  For those who want to hear what they are missing, check out the videos posted HERE.  Otherwise, just get over to the XXX store and order this great release!

Rating:  Crank this one to a long-awaited 8.5! (See also Rockhard, Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire, Spaced)