Upon hearing the band name BITE THE BULLET I pictured in my mind maybe some kind of Hardcore influence type of music. Perhaps a Power Violence or Thrash band that make a monstrous ruckus and take no prisoners. "Bite the bullet" is a phrase about having to deal with something, having to face something you maybe don't really want to. It's about dealing with whatever may come, usually pain. When I first saw the album cover to "Can Be Anything" I thought maybe a flying popsicle someone took a bite out of was a metaphor for uh... the cold uh...? I figured this might be something avant-garde or experimental. I dig the unorthodox. Unfortunately for me, this was as by-the-book as it gets.

BITE THE BULLET have put out a Soft Rock release for Soft Rock people. It sounds like the soundtrack to a car commercial or maybe a new Apple product. The first song of this made me realize I was going to be listening to something I was not a fan of. The vocals are singing with falsettos thrown in. There's tambourine and piano and lots of someone going "doo doo doo" in the background. This is Indie Rock and I guess that's cool if you are a fan of it.

The song titles here really tell the story: "More Lover" that's right not 'Gore Lover', or "Sweet Honey" the grimmest of substances, "Hold Me Now" the only thing I want to hold is this band accountable for putting this album out. The album's songs are all (or at least give the impression they are) about love and dating and all of that stuff is great for the radio. It's not great when you are trying to listen to something with an edge on it. This is the rock equivalent of mewling. It lacks any evil or aggression or power. There's no force behind these punches. Every note, every chorus, every song; it's all a festive sort of vibe with popular musical themes such as, maybe a relationship with someone isn't going the way it was planned, or maybe there is some kind of attraction between individuals, possibly wanting to have a good time. Oh, the swerves never stop coming on this one.

Can I find the positive here? I am sure going to try. I guess the album ends? That's definitely good. If you like music that eventually stops, this one is here for you. If you like bands like... maybe U2? I don't really listen to this music so I have no idea what some specific examples would be. There's a lot of Rock-ish catchy stuff and it's all in standard verse-chorus set up. The guitar is strummed occasionally; the drums are hit and they seem to keep the beat. One song has whistling in it. Here and there the beginning of some shredding will start but it never actually happens. There's just a bunch of teasing and it makes it that much worse. There is also some electronic elements, you know how Metal is devoid of high pitched synth noises that make songs sound more like 16 bit games? It's definitely hitting all the marks for what I imagine regular music that isn't Techno or Rap is doing. I really want to find good things to say about this album but as I replay this one, currently listening to a guy whose voice I can only describe as 'wiener-y' croon "I can't stand to see you dance with another" is sapping my will.

BITE THE BULLET is the name of the band and also the act I had to do to get through this review. The irony is not lost on me. "Can Be Anything" is a great argument for art. It's true, but not everyone is going to love it. If you feel like listening to trite music about love, filled with happy singing this is absolutely for you. If you want heaviness, brutality, awesome riffs, solos, intensity, speed, complexity, or any of the other stuff that makes Metal rule, then look elsewhere. I don't care how many buzzwords a website throws into a band's description, this is middle of the road ho-hum Pop-Rock.