Full Pull＜限定盤＞

Here's the first thing that should probably be said about Swedish hard rockers Bullet: their singer screams like a castrated banshee. But, if the listener subjected to this happens to be partial to the kind of screeching made relatively mainstream by latter-day AC/DC singer Brian Johnson, then any negative connotations involved will instantaneously reverse polarity and sound quite smashing! Released in 2012, Full Pull is truly an AC/DC album in everything but name (and mane -- see lion-headed cover art), and, short of lacking originality there's honestly very little at fault about that, thanks to the well-meaning tribute displayed by pedal-to-the-metal stompers ("Full Pull," "In the Heat," "Rush Hour") and mid-paced fist-pumpers alike ("Midnight Oil," "High on the Hog," "Free Riding"). With the lone exception of the atypical "Rolling Home" (which flirts with more timid guitar stutters and even a bit of piano), each song's Spartan three-chord riffs are as infectious as you please, the guitar solos fleet-fingered without showboating, and the lyrics simple to a fault, never once straying from the ultimate prize of blue-collar rock & roll pleasures. Even when he threatens to take his throat-ripping approach into Udo Dirkschneider (of Accept fame) territory, vocalist Dag "Hell" Hofer is just the kind of hooligan you'd want to drink your Friday nights away with, and he and his bandmates' self-effacing image is also bound to disarm even the grumpiest of AC/DC defenders out there (and attract some Twisted Sister fans to the party, besides). In short, you can bet your schoolboy outfits that Full Pull won't in any way damage the Aussie legends' album sales, and no legal limits are imposed on having a rocking good time like the one Bullet are celebrating here. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia