Cop This
Relentless Rock Records
Since AC/DC have semi-retired in middle aged mediocrity and ever-longer gaps between rehashed memories of past glories, there’s a huge market hole opened up for someone exciting enough to tread a similar path with style and (relative) originality.
Airbourne have already made their name doing just that, but with their third album they’ve pretty much fallen into a bit of rut as well, so that leaves the field wide open.
Enter The Deep End, born of the mean and filthy streets under Melbourne’s seedy belly. Aficionados of no frills, riff laden rock’n’ fucken roll, and disciples of the ‘if you don’t like it you can fuck off’ church of noise.
Taking the Accadacca blueprint as their main inspiration, they’re not afraid to mix it up a little with some quieter moments (Tattoos, Midnight Sun), but when Jazz Morrice and Drew Suhr’s guitars lock in like Malcolm & Angus’s, Matt Berg & Nick Trojanovski’s rhythm section rivets a song down and Dale Schober’s whiskey and ciggies gravel-throated roar kicks in, shivers go down the spine like the first time you heard AC/DC with Bon all those years ago – or The Poor or Airbourne more recently.
The songs here are the clincher – Bigger Better Badder, Knife Fight, Cheap Night Out, Shit Talker, Run With It – they all put the icing on the cake and ensure Cop This is more than just shallow imitation.
SHANE PINNEGAR
