Bulletboys – ’10c Billionaire’ (Chavis Records)
CD Reviews
Written by Dom Daley
Sunday, 13 September 2009 20:46
Forget the 80’s and all the Ted Templeton-produced (or over-produced) songs like ‘Hard As A Rock’, ‘Smooth Up In Ya’ or ‘Kissin Kitty’. They were decent songs with some great riffs but the 2009 Bulletboys are stripped of all the gloss and fat and sound like a lean, mean, rockin’ machine.
’10c Billionaire’ kicks off in a pretty angry, mean and aggressive fashion with what I might describe as a “bitchin” riff and a nice aggressive vocal from Marq Torien who, incidentally, sounds in fine voice – in fact, god damn it, he sounds better than ever. ‘Asteroid’ reminds me a little of the Stone Temple Pilots – is that a bad thing?
This record sounds pissed off to me and maybe it’s a reaction to all the rubbish coming from all four corners of the globe, as we are being drowned by the X Factor and Wherevers Got Talent bile that’s here today, gone in five minutes. Who knows, but there is plenty on offer here.
Of the ten tracks offered, the band manage to sound relevant and bang up to date. I can hear a lot of their influences for sure; there are Kiss and Cheap Trick melodies going on but there is also a great punk kind of feel to this record as well – I kid you not, peeps! Crank it up, grab the tennis racket, close the door and throw some of those shapes. ‘Born To Breed’ hurtles through the speakers with a great riff and melody that messrs Stanley and Simmons would kill for in 2009. ‘Bringing Home The Gun’ should really have been called ‘Bringing Home The Cannon’ because that’s what it sounds like going off in my lug holes. Next up, the stand out track – ‘Girls Kissin Girls’ just rocks and is as catchy as anything you’ll hear this year. It marries perfectly that Ramones punk sound and Kiss catchiness I was on about. This stands up there with all the new kids on the block.
The album hurtles on at a frantic pace with no time for any power ballads or any chart friendly gloss. ‘Jenna Star’ follows ‘Girls Kissin Girls’ and the best way to describe this song is to imagine Cheap Trick were writing a new song and someone sneaked up on them only to boot ’em in the knackers – a right pissed off Cheap Trick sounds about right to my ears. Then comes the “single” – remember them? – ‘Road To Nowhere’ may be the only track that really slows the pace down, but don’t mistake it for anything resembling a power ballad because it isn’t…..but catchy it is. Another highlight for me is album closer ‘Witness’ – imagine Downset (yup, I did say Downset) wearing tight leather trousers and with nice hair – got it? Well, the bass run is stinking dirty as is the riff.
So, in summary, I’d recommend this record to anyone who likes a big filthy riff or two, some stormin’ vocals and more hooks than a fishing tackle shop. Go buy it and tell me I’m wrong. Horns up and mucho kudos Mr Torien!