Faster Pussycat Falls Back on Its Back-Alley Roots : Pop Music: The band may have a gold album now, but it still plays with an attitude.

Now that Faster Pussycat’s “Wake Me When It’s Over” album has gone gold, the question at the Palladium on Friday night was whether the Sunset Strip’s prime purveyors of sleaze rock had gone soft.

As the group’s five members hit the stage, it seemed as if the venue wasn’t the only thing that had sold out.

At least two Pussycats were wearing faintly crushed-velvet duds, a far cry from the no-fuss jeans and leather gear they once favored. And slinky lead singer Taime Downe had dyed his signature platinum-blond tresses a respectable shade of brown.

But fears of a tamed Pussycat disappeared as guitarist Greg Steele struck the snarling opening chords of “Where There’s a Whip There’s a Way.” The grunge-guitar, glam-metal band then slammed home one gutter rocker after another with an attitude born of Hollywood’s back alleys.

The mood turned somber only for “House of Pain,” the power ballad that Downe dedicated to the late blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy and Rebecca Bramlett, daughter of Bonnie, joined the group for far more typically spirited encores, including David Bowie’s “Suffragette City.”

While Faster Pussycat is very much a product of the ‘80s, second-billed Little Caesar could just as easily have been sharing a stage with Bad Company circa 1975. The group’s no-nuances stance renders the music refreshingly timeless. Get-dancing tunes and frontman Ron Young’s redoubtable vocals combined for a solid base of appeal.

Whatever talent Maggie’s Dream has was rendered moot Friday night by the metal-funk outfit’s utter inability to project it live. The Palladium crowd stood unmoved as Maggie’s Dream sputtered through songs from its far more impressive self-titled debut album.