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Considering that Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd once told Classic Rock that Crazy Bitch is destined to be their epitaph, that song might be the reason the band are doing the business of rocking in 2025. In a way, with added furore around alleged misogyny and liberal use of the ‘F’ word, it’s their Sweet Child O’ Mine – a song crafted quickly, demoed and not particularly well thought of that somehow surpassed everything else they did. Funny how things work out.
But now, having recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of their platinum-selling album 15 – the one with said Grammy-nominated track on – it’s credit to the band that they’re still pumping out bottle-rocket earworms. And new album Roar Like Thunder has plenty of them.
The title track opens with purpose: punchy drums, lean guitar riffs and Todd’s distinctive vocals – gravelly and sonorous but with crystalline clarity. Come On swaggers with the kind of irresistible Malcolm Young-esque riffs that you’re compelled to nod along to. The guitar break is tasty as well. Of course, AC/DC also love a double entendre, but Planet Buckcherry is a nuance-free zone. Enter Talkin’ Bout Sex: ‘Talkin’bout sex, in the morning, in the evening, cos you’re ready for love’, Todd declares. It’s daft, it sounds like a horny Black Stone Cherry, but damn it’s catchy.
Deed done, next up is a song about getting pissed (Blackout), before I Go Boom tips its hat to latter-day Aerosmith with high-octane horn sections. As for Hello Goodbye’s jangly guitars and Todd’s suspiciously Gallagher-like phrasing, they’ve surely succumbed to the present Oasis fever. Not to say it isn’t decent.
At the production desk once again is Marti Frederiksen, the band’s long-time collaborator whose resume is virtually a Who’s Who of rock royalty. Clearly they’ve developed a fruitful dynamic with their fellow Californian.
Buckcherry’s style of sleazy, sun-soaked hard rock takes ample cues from the greats, but it’s delivered with a perfect blend of exuberance and temerity that’s inherently them. Not too long ago, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott opined to this writer that songwriters should generally get better the more they do it. It’s food for thought. Whether it’s carpentry, photography or even writing songs about post-booze guilt, doesn’t the 10,000-hour rule apply? Buckcherry are certainly showing no signs of decline, and Roar Like Thunder is as rollickingly focused as they’ve ever sounded. Horny or not.
