Airbourne
Ready To Rock EP

"Are you ready to rock?"

This is the most overused, rhetorical, and abused phrase in music history; yet four young reckless Australians decide to dive into the overcrowded world of Rock music and choose to do so without beating around the bush. They present themselves as simple musicians from the mid-'70s, without teasing their hair, without adding mystical elements to the lyrics, without producing concept albums or long suites. They present themselves with powerful riffs.

Ladies and gentlemen: here are Airbourne.

Joel O'Keeffe

Ryan O'Keeffe

David Roads

Justin Reeds

It seems necessary to introduce them. These Australian lads are evidently disgusted by the profiling of bands created specifically for advertising, and they firmly believe they can return to pure Rock 'N' Roll. They gather, start rehearsing, draft the first pieces and riffs, and in 2005 they self-produce their first EP, with an almost provocative title: "Ready To Rock".

The title track itself serves as a manifesto of the group's musical creed: playing raw yet reliable Hard Rock purely for fun, with its typical blues and rock 'n' roll influences. "Are You Ready To Rock?" screams the piercing voice of the singer-lead guitarist Joel O'Keeffe, who always injects passion, power, and many well-placed solos into every song.

Like in "Stand and Deliver", a very simple song in structure, yet very effective and containing a beautiful bluesy solo by O'Keeffe.

All the songs are fast and immediate, always accented by excellent performances from the rhythmic duo Ryan O'Keeffe (on drums) and Justin Reeds (on bass) and the excellent rhythm guitar accompaniment by David Roads, who impeccably follows the band leader.

Sure, Airbourne doesn't disdain creating slightly more complex pieces: "Come On Down" is a succession of speed changes, with verses shouted to the beat of riffs and solo fired at high speed, this song contains O'Keeffe's longest and most successful solo. Not bad for newcomers...

It would seem difficult to always maintain high speed, not for Airbourne, who delight us with the last three songs of the EP: "Running Hot" (a true monument of rhythm and execution), "Hotter Than Hell" and "Women On Top", suitably close the album. The lyrics follow the usual Hard Rock script: women, drinking, life "on the road", in other words, rocking.

And let's allow these young Australians to entertain us for about half an hour, thinking about how beautiful Rock 'N' Roll is!

P.S. I deliberately avoided unnecessary and rhetorical comparisons with AC/DC. Indeed, it is undeniable that Airbourne follows the example of the Young brothers' band, but let's not label them already as "knockoffs" (forgive the Neapolitan term) of AC/DC. They don't deserve it, let's let them play for their pure pleasure and ours.