Joyous punk from the home of oranges and Seth and Ryan
Orange County has given us not only oranges, but the backdrop for the ever missed The OC, No Doubt, Atreyu and hundreds upon hundreds of So-Cal bands. Bullets and Octane are unwaveringly so-cal punk rock, with a little more rock at times than punk. Touring with the likes of Flogging Molly, Stone Sour, Avenged Sevenfold and the Eagles of Death Metal and making quite a name for themselves in the past four years of international travel. Hard drinking, fun loving and shameless purveyors of some of the catchiest music you'll hear this year, Bullets and Octane are bringing a little bit of joy back into music, and about time too!
Bouncy and often poppy, Song for the Underdog's sound reflects some of the band which they have toured with; the anthemic punk qualities of Flogging Molly, the MOR rock tendencies of Stone Sour and cheekiness of the Eagles of Death Metal are all here for comparison. Bullets and Octane seem to combine these varied musical genres relatively well, making quite an impressive package of well thought out anthems to whiskey, women and good times.
Title track 'Song for the Underdog' bounds along effortlessly with its tales of drinking and infectious sing along chorus, will not doubt make it a favourite live. 'Everyone's in love with me' again is a little more rock than punk put is so carefree in sound, it is a pleasure to listen to. Despite having lyrics which talks about dying, going to hell, an alcoholic mother and philandering father and the repeat of "Just kill me please", it still sounds overwhelmingly and triumphantly joyous and is far more attractive to the ear than metacore.
'City of Angels' is the only low point of the album as it is middle of the road, radio friendly dull, but it seems to be the only track afflicted by the dreaded MOR virus and the album escapes unscathed as a result.
Although this isn't breaking all the rules or doing anything particularly new, it is one of those albums you can't help but like. Not overwhelmingly rock or punk or pop led, it just ambles through with its semi anthemic choruses and dance along melodies. Probably a bit too pop for the punkers and rockers and maybe a bit to punk and rock for the poppers, it does what it does well. It probably won't set the world on fire but ................