Airbourne – Airbourne

Seven years after Boneshaker, Airbourne returns with an album that simply bears its name. An almost obvious choice, as Airbourne resembles less a new step than a declaration of identity. No question of reinventing a formula built over nearly twenty years: the Australian band prefers to remind why it still works. Twelve tracks where rock ’n’ roll is not only a music, but a way of life, of standing up, and, at times, of defying death itself.

No Question of Turning Down the Volume

From the outset, “Gusty”, Airbourne centers a value that runs through the entire record: push forward, no matter the blows. The track carries that almost visceral defiance energy that one later encounters in “Last Man Standing” or “Hells Got No Vacancy.” With them, resistance is not introspective or tortured. It is shouted, fist raised, guitar plugged in far too loud.

This philosophy, however, takes on a different dimension with “Alive After Death (Last Plane Out)”. Behind the immediate efficiency of the title lies one of the album’s most interesting ideas: some people disappear without really dying. As long as their songs keep resonating, something of them remains alive. A simple view of heritage, but particularly coherent coming from a group that has never hidden what it owed to previous generations.

Airbourne obviously never forgets to have fun. “Kid In A Candy Store” turns desire into an euphoric playground while “Sky High” cultivates that bawdy insolence that has become inseparable from the band. Even “Christmas Bonus”, an improbable Christmas anthem channeled through an amplifier cranked to eleven, reminds us that Airbourne knows exactly how far their own cliché goes—and prefers to laugh at it rather than try to escape it.

As Long as There Is Rock ’N’ Roll

But behind the beer, the double meanings and the choruses meant for packed rooms, the record speaks above all of a life built entirely around this music. “Bogotá” pulls everything back onto the road, where Airbourne seems to have always belonged. “Rock ’N’ Roll Ya” no longer even tries to justify this obsession: rock becomes here at once pleasure, language, and reason for being.

It is then “Send Me To Rock ’N’ Roll Heaven” that gives the album its most meaningful conclusion. After spending the album celebrating those who refuse to fall, Airbourne looks one last time toward those who have already left. Not with sadness, but with that almost comforting idea that there exists somewhere a paradise loud enough to welcome the legends of the genre. And when their own time comes, they clearly already know where they want to end up.

By giving its own name to this sixth album, Airbourne promises no revolution. And that is precisely the point. Airbourne celebrates twenty years of unwavering fidelity to the same conviction: as long as there is a stage, an amp, and someone to raise a fist in front, rock ’n’ roll will still have a reason to make noise. And so will they.

The Airbourne article – Airbourne first appeared on RockUrLife – a webzine dedicated to rock, metal, alternative, pop, punk and indie.