01. Roar Like Thunder02. When The Sun Goes Down03. Come On04. Talking Bout Sex05. Blackout06. I Go Boom07. Set It Free08. Hello Goodbye09. Machine Gun10. Let It BurnRock ‘n’ roll should be exciting, otherwise what’s the point? BUCKCHERRY have always had that thought in the back of their sleazy, priapic minds. Over the course of 30 years and ten studio albums, Josh Todd’s Anaheim diehards have done vastly more than the majority of their peers to keep traditional hard rock alive. Impervious to trends and aggressively persistent in a way that speaks to Todd’s punk rock roots, the band best known for “Lit Up” and “Crazy Bitch” have been a permanent benchmark for a balls-out good time. Not everything they have released has hit the target, but when BUCKCHERRY are on good form, the good times follow. And “Roar Like Thunder” is definitely a good time.These are fairly upbeat times for traditional rock, with countless new bands emerging to keep the straight-ahead flag flying. With a few precious exceptions, the new wave of aspiring hard rockers seem sorely lacking in edge or grit, which makes BUCKCHERRY’s eleventh full-length album seem even more spiky and obnoxious than it actually is. But even if this strident collection of new tunes never quite reaches the snotty heights of 2001’s “Time Bomb”, it still wipes the floor with most of the competition. While many bands do a great job of approximating real, red-blooded rock ‘n’ roll, “Roar Like Thunder” is easily identifiable as the real thing, and not just because Josh Todd continues to sound like a man who will do whatever it takes to electrify every last mofo in the room. BUCKCHERRY’s current lineup are audibly on board with this philosophy, and as with 2023’s “Vol. 10”, they play every one of these songs with the intensity and earthy style that they deserve. Once again, Todd’s band are showing the newcomers how this shit is done.It’s impossible to listen to BUCKCHERRY without mental images of Josh Todd freestyle-shuffling across the stage, eyes blazing with conviction. The opening title track is the perfect example of this: fast, furious, steeped in the essence of classic rock, but as forceful and fresh as the modern age demands. “Bad habits wreak havoc…” drawls the frontman, drawing from his former existence as an adolescent fuck-up, but using this cautionary notion as fuel for future missions. It’s dirty, hard-edge rock ‘n’ roll, with giant, anthemic hooks, and utterly joyous. The same goes for “When The Sun Goes Down”, which gives lascivious glam metal a jolting dose of bad attitude, and “Come On”, which wears its debt to AC/DC with pride, and rocks just as hard as the Australian legends. One of the few bands that can hawk a positive message without descending into corny condescension, BUCKCHERRY have never deviated far from their original blueprint, but thanks to a preference for songwriting over surface flair, “Roar Like Thunder” is full of songs with real character and a clear desire to lift spirits. Even the horny hoedown of “Talking Bout Sex” seems more like a celebration of joyful physical intimacy than a blank-eyed request to get into someone’s pants.Elsewhere, “Blackout” dips its toe into butt-shaking funk rock, “I Go Boom” blends garage rock clatter with swaggering, brass section-augmented grooves worthy of ’70s STONES, and the magnificent “Machine Gun” floats the idea that the baddest boys get all the hottest girls, with riffs, solos and a bare-bones chorus that all hail directly from the L.A. metal motherlode. And just to make sure that everyone’s abiding memory of “Roar Like Thunder” is the sound of ass being soundly kicked, “Let It Burn” is the kind of raucous, speedy showstopper that would make a dead man sweat.There are no real surprises here (“Hello Goodbye” is genuinely sweet, but that’s a tone that BUCKCHERRY have used successfully on many previous occasions),but the fact that this band are still rocking with the mad-eyed exuberance of teenagers is startling enough. Long may the good times continue.