Bullets and Octane are the missing link between the Backyard Babies and Avenged Sevenfold. Years after their one time stint with mega-corp RCA Records, these whiskey-and-tattoo rockers inspire to be the Motorhead for the Warped Tour/Hot Topic generation. With GnR tainted guitar riffs and lyrics reflecting stories that could have only come from a Motley Crue biography, Bullets and Octane are destined to bring something new the table, even if that table is deep center of the shopping mall cafeteria.  As someone who was knee-deep in the sounds of the glam-punk explosion that happened around the turn of the century (Backyard Babies, DGeneration, Black Halos) which fizzled in only a few short years, I am not quite sure why dyed-black hair and LA Guns t-shirts became a fashion statement for post-metalcore bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Eighteen Visions, but B&O may be on to a more cohesive punk/metal cocktail garnished with enough radio-friendly harmonies for them to compete for the post-teen ears that are now outgrowing the Fall Out Boys and the My Chemical Romances that ruled the dial two years ago.

"Bang" is the definite single here and is rightfully placed as the self titled album's second track. However, set this album on shuffle and "Bang" is lost among other pop-metal goodies like "Alive", "Dark Hour", and "Black Painting - the latter in which sounds like a new Rocket From The Crypt single produced by Bob Rock. When vocalist Gene Louis is not reminding me of RFTC's John Reis, he sounds suspiciously like both Nicke Borg and Dregen, often times fooling myself into thinking the two Backyard Babies singers were brought in to do guest lead and backing spots.

Bullets and Octane includes 11 songs clocking in at five minutes shy of a half hour. Not one song here goes over 3 minutes, however that can be blamed on speed rather than lack of song structure. The album was released digitally on April 14th,  but will re-appear October 6th as part of a 26-song collection titled Laughing In The Face of Failure. The two-CD set will also include 2007's Song For The Underdog plus select b-sides, unreleased tracks, and a new version of their 2004 single "Pirates".

Clicking the album's image above will actually take you to Amazon's pre-order page for Laughing In The Face of Failure. Digital download for the self-titled album alone can be found now on eMusic and iTunes.

See video of Bullets and Octane performing "Alive" below.