Review by Ritchie Birnie for MPM
25 years, 11 albums and a reputation for ripping up the playbook with high octane metal and Roar Like Thunder keeps the train a rolling.
Buckcherry have carved a niche for themselves with hard, heavy songs, dirty mouths and a punk attitude that sells albums and the title track takes no prisoners. A backbone breaking drum beat comes at you and metronomically drives the song as the killer riff burrows into your sub conscious to creep up on you days later.
The drumbeat keeps on in the punk driven “When the Sun Goes Down” and this could be how the female from Crazy Bitch is getting on nowadays. Fast, frenetic and as catchy as hell.
A lazy assed riff opens “Come On” before it slips into a cozy pair of AC/DC slippers as Josh lives his best Bon Scott life. This is a radio ready summer anthem and a track made for the stage.
“Talkin’ Bout Sex” is this bands go too feel but it is far more layered, deeper musically but hey, look at the subject matter and you know this is Buckcherry. There is some killer fretwork by Steve Dacanay and Billy Rowe.
The guitar lick intro on “Blackout” is bitching and this track takes me back to the 90s. We have the Peppers, Love/Hate and a little dash of Mr Big. The nostalgia bait is tied together brilliantly with a modern feel and this is one of my favourite tracks on the album.
There is a blues feel to “I Go Boom” with the intro guitars but that fades quickly as it flickers to life with an upbeat tempo and some horns. This has the Buckcherry attitude, the damned cuss words and an impact like a bulldozer.
There is an Aerosmith feel to the opening of “Set it Free”. The Perry coolness oozes from your speakers and from the title you could figure (and you would be correct) that this is a 70s feeling number, a good time track to sip a Whisky to.
We take on a Brit Pop guitar feel on “Hello Goodbye” and this could be an alternative Rock monster hit from MTV era. There is enough of a Grunge feel to give Nirvana fans a boner, a laid back song that screams hit.
We get another AC/DC flick on “Machine Gun”. This is early DC when they had attitude, a cheeky smile and a get the fuck out of our way swagger. This is Rock’n’Roll at its best, feel good vibes with a dark edge.
Final track “Let it Burn” comes around too soon with pretty much every song coming in at under four minutes and this song is no different. A crazy, fast paced song that comes in with force, rocks your world and leaves like a tornado just ripped through your life.
Buckcherry have nothing left to prove, They have been there, done that but still keep coming back, they keep delivering the goods and their popularity cannot be questioned.
Pre-order the album from Earache here: earache.com/buckcherry
Track list:
1 – Roar Like Thunder
2 – When The Sun Goes Down
3 – Come On
4 – Talking Bout Sex
5 – Blackout
6 – I Go Boom
7 – Set It Free
8 – Hello Goodbye
9 – Machine Gun
10 – Let It Burn
Buckcherry are:
Josh Todd (vocals)
Stevie Dacanay (guitar)
Billy Rowe (guitar)
Kelly LeMieux (bass)
Francis Ruiz (drums)
Buckcherry online:
https://www.buckcherry.com
https://www.facebook.com/buckcherry
https://www.instagram.com/buckcherry
