Bullets and Octane have lost none of their power over the years despite the usual turmoil and line-up changes, and their brand of driving punk-edged Hard Rock with an old school feel and chant along choruses can still bring a crowd sharply to their feet. If you need proof of that listen to opener ‘Bad Motherfucker’ and tell me it ain’t so.
If you need a little sit down after that opening shot then title track ‘Waking Up Dead’ won’t give you that respite despite being somewhat smoother, it keeps the party going with the same sort of catchy refrain. Maybe it’s a little darker and bassier, but there’s still enough in the tank to get the room jumping again. And that is the key to this release – seemingly boundless energy – striding out like a dirtier take on a band like Buckcherry, Bullets and Octane know what they do best and keep at it till all resistance subsides.
On an album that delivers exactly what it says on the package there is nowhere to hide and not a single song that you feel didn’t deserve to be amongst the 11 here. Among the standouts for me at least are tracks like the more tempered ‘When We Were Young’ with it’s softer edge and ‘Fires’ which opens up gently before launching its attack in the huge chorus, then falls back again into a languid stomp. Then there’s the countrified proto-Rock N Roll and blues edge of ‘Murder Me Baby’ which sports a great elongated solo; the slowly building ‘Hostage’ and closer ‘Vampires’ which broods and menaces as it crawls along to the final scream.
This is a great album so fresh it’s proves not only that the still beating heart of Bullets and Octane is pumping just as hard as it ever has, but also that the band are not afraid to stray from tried and tested song construction.
If you’re already acquainted with the band then you’ll love this especially if you thought that their best work was behind them, after all the band has been a little quiet since 2013’s ’15’. If I’m honest then for me this new album is almost up there with their most glorious string of releases that started with 2006’s ‘In the Mouth of the Young’ (Still one of my favorite albums of the last decade) and continued with 2007’s ‘Songs For the Underdog’ and 2009’s self-titled release.
Released independently originally back in 2017, the album was released with a new cover back in May on Bad MoFo/Cargo Records.
You really do need to hear this one.
