Some of heavy metal's scaliest dinosaurs are back on the road and in the studio, and a crop of new bands are emulating their antics and style. Aussie upstarts Airbourne tell Ronan McGreevyabout their feelgood, super-loud sound.
AS A declaration of intent, Airbourne mean what they say when they exhort their fans to "get your ass down here and let your ears bleed". Their debut Irish performance in Whelan's in Dublin last Tuesday week made other bands sound like a string quartet at a wedding reception.
How loud? Loud enough that even the discerning punters on the www.metalireland.comwebsite, who like their decibels off the dial, took note.
"Fucking loud," wrote one; "fecking loud", "my feckin' ears are still ringing", "severely loud" and "volume was unreal" were just some of the other contributions. It wasn't just the volume that was unreal. Airbourne came to Ireland with a peerless reputation as a live band, and they confirmed that reputation with a performance that showcased their near delirious level of onstage intensity.
Midway through their short but eventful set, bare-chested frontman Joel O'Keeffe (25) left the stage, walked through the heaving crowd and pulled himself a pint at the bar.
The stunt was in keeping with the band's philosophy, as outlined on their anthemic track Stand Up for Rock and Roll. Drink a beer, drink wine, let's have a good time. It is a simple message, but it is lost on a lot of young bands who mistake self-obsession and seriousness for profundity.
Airbourne play good-time rock'n'roll, and exist somewhere on that cusp where hard rock meets heavy metal. With its power chords, twin guitar attack (rhythm and lead) and fist-pumping choruses, their debut album Runnin' Wildwon't win any prizes for originality.
Neither will they win compliments from the Equality Authority for their lyrics, which are preoccupied with tales of boozing, blackjack and birds: "She had all the boys talking/with her fancy catwalking/it was me who took her home/ and gave the bed a good rocking."
Despite its lack of subtlety, Runnin' Wildis a pure adrenaline rush without a dud track, delivered with brio, good humour and enough energy to power a small town.
Airbourne hearken back to a less censorious age when rock'n'roll was as much about celebration as it was about introspection.
Like a lot of contemporary hard rock bands (The Answer from Downpatrick come immediately to mind in Ireland), they eschew the morose turn metal has taken since the early 1990s. Airbourne's heroes are AC/DC, Motörhead, Judas Priest and fellow Aussies Rose Tattoo - all bands whose heyday had come and gone before they were even born.
Standing at the bar two hours before their debut Irish gig, Joel O'Keeffe is quiet-spoken and polite, surprisingly so given his manic stage persona. (He's equally accommodating when signing autographs for fans after the gig.)
He seems genuinely pleased to be visiting Ireland for the first time. The family name originated in Co Kerry which his great-grandfather left in the early part of the last century, though the singer is vague on the details.
"Some say the English were trying to take his farm or something. He and his brother murdered them with spades," he says. He, his brother Ryan (22) and friends David Roads (25) and Justin Streets (22) formed Airbourne five years ago at home in the small Australian town of Warmamboo, three hours' drive from Melbourne.
Their uncomplicated philosophy about rock'n'roll comes from the rough and tumble of the Aussie pub rock circuit, where punters demand to be sent home sweating.
"We treat every show like it is our last show because it could be. You never know what might happen tomorrow, the bus could crash or whatever," he says. "Playing a gig is like a fight and you, fuck it, just keep hitting. Sometimes we go a bit overboard, but that's the way we play. We want to play as hard as we can."
Airbourne's reputation has been growing off the back of their well-received debut album Runnin' Wildand a near-perpetual tour. Along the way, the band has had two critical breaks.
The first was signing to the New York-based Roadrunner Records after appearing at the South by Southwest festival in Texas. The other was the appearance by Motörhead's Lemmy driving a truck in the band's video for Runnin' Wild.
The video is now running on rotation on music television stations and has raised their profile to a level which no amount of hard touring can achieve. Lemmy's endorsement marks the passing of the torch from one generation of hellraising headbangers to another.
Lemmy, a fan of the band since they supported Motörhead on an Australian tour, played his part for a bottle of Jack (Daniels) and a few packets of chips, O'Keeffe says.
"It was like a full circle. They were the bands who got us into playing rock'n'roll music. When we did that tour with Motörhead and Rose Tattoo, they were not slowing down, they were going as hard as hell, bigger than ever, just like they were 30 years ago. It's a real inspiration for us.
"Rock'n'roll is just one of those things that will never die. Either way, it will always be there, it's such a powerful thing. It's about having a good time. You just go out there and put your fists in the air."
Of all the bands they have been compared to, the AC/DC comparison is the most apposite. Runnin' Wildcould easily fit into the canon of AC/DC albums pre- Back in Black, and O'Keeffe, who doubles as guitarist, can alternatively sound like Bon Scott and his replacement Brian Johnson on the higher registers.
"It's an honour. There's no other band we'd want to be compared to," says O'Keeffe.
"Coming from Australia, we used to listen to them flat out. They are the best rock'n'roll band in the world ever. Angus Young has got the same box shape (music scale) he's done for 17 albums, and he's done every solo different.
"That's the most amazing thing anybody can do. It's like taking the same car with the same steering wheel and driving it differently every time, and every time you drive it, you win the race."
As one fan succinctly put it, the likeness to AC/DC is both the best thing and the worst thing about Airbourne. Bands are understandably sniffy about being compared to their influences, however obvious, but as O'Keeffe points out, the weight of musical antecedents are such that every band starting out today ends up being compared to someone else.
AC/DC are rumoured to be touring next year. Would Airbourne like a support slot? "We'd be there pushing road cases if they'd have us," is the response. In the meantime, Airbourne are back in November at a bigger venue (the Ambassador).
Their amps clearly go up to 11. Maybe, next time, they just might have mercy and think of turning them down to 10.
Runnin' Wildis out now on Roadrunner Records. Airbourne play the Ambassador on November 10th
