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Fizz reviews THREE albums at once!
THE SONS OF ANGUS: Airborune, Broken Teeth, And Rhino Bucket
By Fizz
Airbourne: No Guts, No Glory (Roadrunner)
Rating: 8.0
Broken Teeth: Viva La Rock, Fantastico! (Perris)
Rating: 8.5
Rhino Bucket: The Hardest Town (Acetate)
Rating: 7.0
You know your ol’ buddy Fizz, always looking to take the easy way out. And that’s why, when faced with reviewing three CD’s, all heavily influenced by the same band, I decided to combine them all into one review. Three reviews for the price of none! What could be better? And so today, we’ll be talking about three bands who all worship at the altar of AC/DC (and don’t we all?). The simple formula immortalized by Angus and Malcolm Young remains one of the most enduring and instantly-recognizable and timeless styles of music. It’s a sound I find endlessly enjoyable when done right, and almost impossible NOT to do right. It’s a sound that rarely fails to raise your spirits, get your blood pumping, help you let off steam, or just let you unwind. Whatever the situation calls for, you can’t go wrong with three chords, a simple backbeat, and some guy screaming about partying, getting laid or making noise.
The four young blokes in Airbourne have definitely done their homework. Where other bands may prefer the Bon Scott era of AC/DC, the brothers O’Keefe and Co. take their cues from the first few Brian Johnson-led albums with all the over-the-top energy and bombast of overlooked records like Flick Of The Switch or Fly On The Wall. They also incorporate strains of similar bands like Krokus or the hardest stuff from High ‘n’ Dry-era Def Leppard, as well as the slightly updated sounds of fellow down-under bruisers The Poor. If you heard Airbourne’s 2008 debut Running Wild, then you know exactly what to expect, as the band haven’t changed a single thing, and why would they? They already had the perfect guitar tones, the huge backing vocals, and the rock-solid rhythms mastered the first time around. If anything, No Guts, No Glory is bigger and louder, and there’s certainly more to go around. If you pick up the deluxe edition, which I suggest you do, you’ll be treated to a whopping 18 (yes, that’s EIGHTEEN) tracks. And let me tell you, the five bonus tracks are hardly throwaways: no inferior demos or redundant live versions. It’s like getting two full albums for the price of one. This is one case where sheer quantity is just as important as quality. In fact, some might say there’s too much here, that it all blurs together after a while and individual songs stop standing out. A valid gripe, I guess, but this music seems made as much for blaring while you ride around, party, or (God help you) work out, as it is for careful study. The repetitive riffs and simple choruses (often just the song title and one rhyming line being bellowed by a roomful of guys) serve to beat the songs into your head like sledgehammers. Vocalist Joel O’Keefe appears undaunted by last year’s tour-canceling throat issues, and if anything, he’s screaming even louder this time around. But that’s the whole idea behind Airbourne: to quote their heroes, “Forget about tomorrow, take it today!” And despite what some would have you believe, there ARE some standout tunes here, even if they mostly stand out for the same reason. First single “No Way But The Hard Way,” “Blonde, Bad and Beautiful,” “Steel Town,” “Chewin’ The Fat,” “Overdrive” and “Rattle Your Bones” all exemplify the band’s approach, placing a higher value on volume and power than on complexity or innovation. The only surprise comes with the triumphant, oddly melodic “Bottom Of The Well,” probably as close as the band will ever come to a ballad (and that’s not very close). Rarely has a young band sounded so convincingly genuine when making music from a past generation.
As impossible as it might seem, Broken Teeth might actually have Airbourne topped in the intensity department. Led by former Dangerous Toys screecher Jason McMaster, the band has just released their third full-length of all-new material, the festively-titled Viva La Rock, Fantastico! While I liked their previous releases well enough, something always seemed just a little too studied and intentional about their tribute to Bon Scott’s vision. (Pick up 2008’s semi-compilation Electric for a good introduction to the band.) This time out, the band delivers a hyper-speed ride through thirteen high-voltage jolts of power. Almost every song raises the energy and intensity to a level AC/DC themselves attempted only rarely, and not at all recently. Imagine if Bon and the boys put out a whole album’s worth of “Rocker” “Beatin’ Around The Bush.” If Airbourne’s music is like pounding your favorite big-name beer, Broken Teeth offer the sonic equivalent of Red Bull and vodka, or possibly tequila shots. At this point, they owe as much to Motorhead, early (cool) punk rock, and the NWOBHM (all of which they pay homage to on the opener, “Blackheart”) as they do to AC/DC. McMaster also varies his vocal delivery throughout, from the teeth-clenched sneer on “Exploder” and “Twister,” to his more trademark yell, to a demonic howl, the dog-whistle highs of the first D-Toys album being replaced with lots of grit and gravel. The band’s music tends to be a bit more creative than Airbourne’s by-the-numbers recital, as cool as that may be. (Just check out the slow, nasty strut of “Break The Spell.”) McMaster is also more creative as a lyricist than Joel O’Keefe’s admittedly clichéd lines. But then, that signature sly humor goes back to the D-Toys days. Canadian rocker Danko Jones shows up to share vocals on two songs, and while I never thought the guy was all that great, he adds another texture to the music. Viva La Rock, Fantastico! Might seem to blaze by as much as No Guts, No Glory might seem to go on forever, but there might be more that stands out, from the (relatively) midpaced “Exploder,” to the strip-club anthem “Twister,” to the winding riff on “Spittin’ Nails,” the aforementioned “Break The Spell,” and the completely unhinged “Get Outta Here Alive.” Fun, catchy rockers like “Bullet” and “Big Spender” sit side-by-side with punked-up blitzes like “Ride Upon Glory” or the title track. My favorite, though, would have to be “Dressin’ Up In Flames,” which McMaster gleefully describes as “a Jet guitar riff with me screaming old Kiss album titles over the chorus.” While Airbourne pummel you into submission with their super-size extra-value ideal, Broken Teeth, to me, seems to have more of their own identity and character, which will probably keep their self-styled brand of “knuckle-dragger, mouth-breather rock ‘n’ roll” sounding fresher, longer.
Rhino Bucket’s latest album, The Hardest Town (released in May of 2009), sounds almost sedate and refined by comparison. The band has been suffering from the Angus Jr. comparisons since their self-titled debut, way back in 1990, but are perhaps most deserving, of all three bands on this page, to be taken on their own merits. The riffs have always had that vintage, twangy tone where you just know the guitars are plugged directly into the amps, with no fancy effects whatsoever, but somewhere along the way, the lyrics began to take a darker turn, and the overall feel became less party-hearty. On this, their fifth album, original members Georg Dolivo (vocals/guitar) and Reeve Downey (bass) are joined once again by former Kix guitarist Brian Forsythe, and Simon Wright, who played the drums on ‘94’s underrated Pain. (So y’all can stop talking about the transsexual drummer, she’s gone.)
The Hardest Town might not be the home run that their 2006 comeback And Then It Got Ugly was, but there are still plenty of patented Bucket moments, most notably “Justified” and the fantastic “Know My Name.” One thing you notice right off is that, even more so than on the last album, Georg is singing more than hollering, adopting an almost Tom Petty-like croon, while retaining his usual slur. And so, the songs overall tend to be more melodic than we’ve come to expect from the band. While this works on the infectious title track, or the slower churn of “Take Me Down,” other songs like the plodding blues of “To Be Mine” or the oddly low-key “You’re Gone” just seem out of place and overly downcast. Lyrically, Georg still delights in his noir tales of death, nihilism and the seedy side of city life, but increasingly, he explores themes of loneliness and alienation, not exactly what you might expect for this style of music. It’s a strange listen, especially compared with the other two discs reviewed here, and not my favorite Rhino Bucket album either. All the same, I’m glad they’re still out there making music, instead of coasting on 20-year-old semi-hits.
Whew! Now, let’s all go listen to Dream Theater and expand our minds! Any takers? … Anybody? … No? I didn’t think so. Another round!
Hear some music and keep up with the bands here!
6/14/10
