Five-piece SoCal rockers Bullets And Octane have been likened to everything from The Misfits to Billy Idol. Between the group’s hard-driving rhythms and vocalist Gene Bullets’ similarities to Glenn Danzig and the aforementioned Mr. Idol, there’s no denying those comparisons. Yet to gain the full picture of Bullets And Octane’s sound requires more than just a cursory mention of Gene’s tendency to channel Judas Priest’s Rob Halford.
Quickly becoming known around the club circuit for its explosive live performances, Bullets And Octane bears a greater resemblance to underground favorites of yore The Cadillac Tramps. Inducing a fist-pumping furor, the 11 sweat-soaked cuts that make up the band’s debut release The Revelry hit like a shot of Jack on a summer day in the Arizona desert.
Guided by a gritty street punk ethos, the album rarely runs afoul of this mantra, stumbling only momentarily with “Places”, which by its own right does a decent job in recalling the better days of ‘70s arena rock but nonetheless takes the edge off unnecessarily. Fortunately, the boys kick it right back into high gear with “Bad Things To Bad People”, a track that brings to mind the adrenalized charge of Motley Crue’s “Red Hot”.
Bullets And Octane doesn’t tiptoe around waiting for someone to point them down Easy Street, and The Revelry serves as a not-so-subtle reminder of what rock can be when it doesn’t suck.
