The Bullets - Power Chords and Promises (1987, Slum City)

Cosmetically there isn't much to distinguish The Bullets from the brunt of your '80s run-of-the-mill, runamucks - teased hair, sunglasses and even a little spaghetti western garb.  Ditto for seemingly pedestrian and hackneyed song titles like "Walk On" and "Fact or Fiction," right?   Surprise.  This quartet from Glendale, CA boasted a sonically inviting post-punk aptitude to mesh with those MTV hairdos with most of the credit going to axe-wrangler Scott Grant, whose galloping arpeggios sting and stun in the best possible way.  The Bullets distill elements from an array of seemingly divergent sources: Big Country, Cocteau Twins, The Rhythm Corps and even Vomit Launch (though the latter of those is likely a sheer coincidence).   Microphone fiend Joe Rotger's high timbre is equally as notable as Grant's echoing fretboard runs, and collectively the Bullets are a profoundly enthusiastic lot, pounding out driving, frenetic missives like "That Certain Glow" and the aforementioned "Fact or Fiction."  Power Chords... rapid-fire salvos sound a tad hasty, and at worst sloppy, but therein lies the record's charm.  Truly a feast for the ears.

01. That Certain Glow
02. Just Another Crime
03. Independence Day Charm
04. Walk On
05. Today and Today
06. untitled
07. A Minute or Two
08. Fact or Fiction
09. Macy
10. Vale da Morte
11. Lost But Not Found

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