Airbourne's Boneshaker: loud, violent, and about as subtle as a punch in the face

Airbourne's fifth album Boneshaker proves that they're rock’n’roll for life – and you better believe it

Airbourne: Bineshaker
(Image: © Airbourne)

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Chicks, cars, sex, more sex – and sharks – Airbourne’s fifth album really does have all the good stuff. Deviating not a single inch from the AC/DC worshipping formula underpinning their career thus far, this is a barely controlled rock’n’roll smash and grab: loud, violent and bloody and about as subtle as a punch in the face – but in a really good way. 

Produced by Dave Cobb (Rival Sons, Whiskey Myers) with an ear on the canny sonic values of AC/DC’s Let There Be Rock, amps hum threateningly and solos blast from the speakers at an unspeakably rabid volume – the furiously tight fretwork on Blood In The Water and Rock’N’Roll For Life is wonderfully bonkers. 

If there is any kind of masterplan behind Sex To Go, She Gives Me Hell and Switchblade Angel, it’s to be the Ramones of heavy blues rock – short and snotty songs pared back to the basic essence of primal riff and chorus, with Joel O’Keeffe screaming like an Aussie Noddy Holder over the top. Boneheadedly terrific.

Essi Berelian

Whether it’s magazines, books or online, Essi has been writing about rock ’n’ metal for around thirty years. He has been reviews editor for Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, rock reviews editor for lads mag Front and worked for Kerrang!. He has also written the Rough Guide to Heavy Metal and contributed to the Rough Guide to Rock and Rough Guide Book of Playlists, and the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles (13th edition). Most fun interview? Tenacious D – Jack Black and Kyle Gass – for The Pick of Destiny movie book. An avid record/CD/tape collector, he’s amassed more music than he could ever possibly listen to, which annoys his wife no end.