You knew John Humphrey and Scott Giampino as Cash Money, before a certain namesake hip-hop label stepped in and made a fuss. Now rechristened Cash Audio, the guitar-and-drums duo have pulled harmonica-master David Passow into their ranks on a full-time basis, the better to crank out their ferocious brand of Zep-tainted blues.

So really, none of the truly important things have changed.

Green Bullet is one ferocious howler of an album -- one of those rare discs that sounds loud at any volume. Humphrey dishes out the riffs while alternating between strangulated madman howls and twisted Elvis crooning. Giampino batters the skins into whimpering submission and Passow rips out the sort of down-and-dirty harp runs that'll send you off in search of whiskey.

If it's liquor you're after, perhaps you'll succumb to the hundred-proof instrumental stomp of "The Power of Tequila". Or you could get up close and personal with the timeless struggle between good and evil courtesy of "Shifty-Eyed Devil". "Who Killed the Blues" is a blistering wholesale indictment of all those scumbags in the music industry, and the eminently terse "Wrong Again" will have you wandering around your home or office screaming "It was a 12 split show!" at the top of your lungs.

Long on sound and short on the sort of self-indulgent posturing you get from other artists who've found their way into the blues through a punk rock back door, Green Bullet is the real deal. I can't help but love any album that lets me drag out adjectives like searing, blistering, fierce and ferocious -- and unless you prefer your music bland and emasculated, you're gonna love it too. Grab a shot and a beer, throw Green Bullet in the player, fry up some bacon (you've gotta have bacon) and you're good to go. Lucky bastard.