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AIRBOURNE Boneshaker By Andrew Depedro, Ottawa Corespondent Monday, October 14, 2019 @ 2:04 PM
Fast forward from the halcyon days of the 50’s to the 70’s when country music was raw and lawless-sounding to, well, this past April when the members of plucky Australian quartet AIRBOURNE showed up at 30 Music Square West with little more than a pocketful of riffs and a burning desire to make the truest rock ‘n roll record of their 16 year career – and thankfully an invitation by six-time Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb, best known for his work with country superstars Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlisle and Sturgill Simpson. Any other band attempting a similarly bold move would’ve been shown the door, but Cobb wanted to challenge himself by recording a full-tilt, earth-shaking, balls-to-the-wall hard rock band – the kind of band which had set his pulse racing as a teenager growing up in Savannah, Georgia. And AIRBOURNE just simply like the thrill of a challenge, having paid their own musical dues starting from playing in bars in and around their hometown of Warrnambool, Victoria State. If they could survive a couple of years practically living the lyrics to “It’s A Long Way To The Top” by their musical spirit guides AC/DC during the early stages of their career with 24-hour long drives to the nearest local watering hole full of rough-looking patrons who aren’t big fans of music interrupting their drinking time, the band could easily survive Nashville.
But the question on many hard rock/metal fans’ minds lingers: Will AIRBOURNE’s identifiable high voltage sound survive the influences of the birthplace of country music following the release of their fifth studio platter Boneshaker recorded in the same studio?
Well, for starters, with their previous four albums stemming from 2007’s debut album Runnin’ Wild having sold well over 1 million copies and beyond on the first day of release and having played everywhere from the Wacken Festival in Germany (where the video for the title track was filmed) to opening slots for the ROLLING STONES, AIRBOURNE are not about to alter their credo of “Rock ‘n roll for life”. And the list of Dave Cobb’s previous clients, despite thankfully being as far removed from mainstream country as possible, also suggests that Cobb himself is a producer who relentlessly pursues the rawest-sounding aesthetic from the artists he’s worked with. “Cobb is a rock ‘n’ roller at heart,” explains frontman/guitarist Joel O’Keefe, “When he was growing up, he was learning the same AC/DC and LED ZEPPELIN riffs that I was learning growing up, on the other side of the world.” Doesn’t exactly scream “Steel guitars and duets with Tim McGraw” to me, but Boneshaker lets the music do the talking here. As it should.
Finally, the closing number “Rock ‘N Roll For Life” is AIRBOURNE’s own mission statement finally put into music form and likely to be a popular closing number for future tours. They’re probably already closing shows on their current European tour with this song as we speak, its mantra of no shame, no surrender, no regrets, no wasted moments prevalent throughout the album as much as it is in the song itself.
And sometimes, willful spontaneity is just as important as meticulous detail in achieving the best possible success. No bones about it.
5.0 Out Of 5.0
http://airbournerock.com/
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