Review Summary: A fun album overall, the array of catchy hooks and euphoric feel of "Song for the Underdog" will have you singing along at the top of your lungs with every listen.
After leaving their first major label home, RCA due to poor promotion and management among other things, Bullets and Octane return with "Song for the Underdog". The completely DIY record comes straight from ARES records, the very label that spawned Bullets' first album, "The Revelry".
With a return to their beginnings comes a return to their old sound as well. "The Revelry", a pop-punk/rock-n-roll hybrid that brought fun, humor, and wit, complete with biting guitar riffs, and grooving bass lines, was followed by Bullets' major label debut, "In the Mouth of the Young". Their second effort was much darker than "Revelry" singing not only of partying, and drinking 'til your liver packs up and moves out, but of critisms of Christianity, and scheming to murder a nagging girlfriend. The musicianship had also improved greatly, straying from the "poppiness" of "Revelry" to something reminiscent of Early Guns n' Roses or Motorhead.
I have to admit, being in love with "In the Mouth of the Young", I was kind of disapointed in the band's change in tone and direction in "Song for the Underdog". Still, it's not a huge shift by any means and it's still a damn fine album. Biases (hopefully) aside, let's get on with the review. This my first one, so give me some tips if you're feeling generous.
I can group all of the songs from "Song for the Underdog" into one of 3 categories.
The first of these are the fist-pumping sing alongs, finding their home at happy hour of your local pub. "Breakout", "The Perfect Bitch", "Song for the Underdog", the medicore "Building a Legend" and "I Caught Fire", and "Everyone's in Love With Me" all fit in here. Each song has a bouncy tempo, a group-sung chorus (you can almost picture the band arms on eachother's shoulders, swinging bottles of Daniels around while singing the title track) and feel good, at times anthemic lyrics to really lift the mood.
The second group are the ballads. "City of Angels" and "Gravestone Love" are a couple of (although poorly placed in the track listing) good songs that bring down the over all "*** yea, let's party!" feel of most of the album, but still give Bullets a dimension aside just a party band. "Gravestone Love" even includes a nice guitar solo, something rarely encountered on this album.
Finally we have the up-tempo, more serious rock n rollers. The more solemn tone of these songs relive the darker side of "In the Mouth of the Young" with "Welcome to our Holiday" and "Harder to Breathe". "My Heart is an Empire", "Sweet Angel", and "All Downhill from Here" are all solid tunes and really hold the album together in between all the poppier songs and ballads.
While it doesn't quite live up to "In the Mouth of the Young", Bullets and Octane's latest effort still makes for a great rock and roll album. If you enjoyed any of their previous work, you'll definitely enjoy this, and if you're a newcomer to the band's music then it's still a fine place to pick up at. A fun album overall the array of catchy hooks and euphoric feel of "Song for the Underdog" will have you singing along at the top of your lungs with every listen.
Pros:
Unadulterated, happy hour fun at your local bar.
Enough catchy songs to have you humming them in your head all day.
Cons:
Some songs sound too similar.
Basic rock and roll format may be too "boring" for some.
Songs to check out:
"The Perfect Bitch"
"My Heart is an Empire"
"Everyone's in Love with Me"
"City of Angels"
