One is from the working-class mean streets of Detroit. The other is from the balmy Deep South river town of Muscle Shoals, AL. 16 Second Stare could put together a hell of a Presidential ticket, but wisely, they’ve chosen to rock instead. The hard-partying, hard-hitting tag team of “Angry” Tim and Todd Pettus would probably struggle with the “family values” stuff anyway. Luckily, the boys—along with bassist Miguel Gonzalez, drummer Ricky Sanders and keyboardist Nick Marinovich—have focused their considerable talents on punishing full-length debut Red Carpet Material. Shuttling between Miami and Atlanta to record the album—the latter for a touch-up session with renowned mixer/engineer Jeff Tomei (Smashing Pumpkins, Jerry Cantrell)—16 Second Stare concocted an eclectic array of radio-ready modern and classic rock. The epic “One More Time” takes its time simmering into an anthemic, reflective climax, while “Rhino” makes like its namesake, a reckless, sexually-charged strut that would make the Crüe proud. What makes 16 Second Stare click is the unselfish bond between Tim and Todd. Mutual acquaintance David Potts introduced them in Nashville a little over 18 months ago. Both sang and played guitar, yet their styles were compatible enough that they not only complemented one another, but delivered fully-formed songs of their own that blended together seamlessly onstage. “I grew up learning Zeppelin, AC/DC and Metallica,” Todd explains. “My style’s a little different than Tim’s: He’s a little more old-school. I try to get the rhythms and verses up to date, but still appeal to the older crowd that grew up on classic rock ‘n’ roll.” “We’ve got a lot of cross-breeding going on over here,” Tim drawls with a chuckle, correctly citing the introspective “Stuck in the Moment” as a song that appeals to both the new and old rock schools. Piano-ballad-gone-haywire “Goodbye,” an unpredictable and daring bit of songwriting, strikes a similar (and all too rare) balance. And Red Carpet Material appropriately covers a wide range of topics, mostly the tense ups and downs of the last few years Tim and Todd have spent together performing and recording. But as intense as their music is, 16 Second Stare are anything but self-serious studio geeks. In fact, the Red Carpet sessions are already infamous for, well, yielding the opposite of red carpet treatment. “We got kicked out of four different hotels,” Tim remembers. “In fact, Cheap Trick was at our hotel, and we were the ones that got kicked out.” “They all liked us, though,” Todd chimes in. “They smiled as they kicked us out,” Tim clarifies. Todd gets the last word: “We’re not doctors here.” Unless you want to qualify them as riff doctors, that’s the honest truth. More often than not, you’ll find Tim and Todd sporting badass aviator shades and double-neck axes. In fact, they own 22 of them and are currently decorating their MySpace page with various and sundry lovely ladies posing with each. “Guitars kick ass,” Todd shrugs. “You can never have too many guitars.”