Airbourne

Airbourne channel an unpretentious rock style steeped in the Aussie pub rock lineage of AC/DC, the Angels, and Rose Tattoo. Four mates forever gripping beers, they would perish before being spotted in a pink shirt. Siblings Joel and Ryan O'Keeffe spent their formative years in the rural outpost of Warrnambool, amassing a hoard of vintage Australian rock LPs lifted from their uncle. While contemporaries chased current sounds, the pair stayed locked into the '70s and '80s music they sought to revive. Still at school, Joel assumed vocals and lead guitar while Ryan handled drums, drawing repeated police visits from exasperated neighbors over the racket. Second guitarist David Roads entered the fold after Joel, then working at a local pub, pulled him in. Ryan encountered Justin Street rolling drunk down the town’s sand dunes and recruited him on bass, locking the quartet in place. They soon shifted to Melbourne in search of receptive stages. Persistent live work yielded the self-funded EP Ready to Rock in 2004. Opening slots for the Rolling Stones and Mötley Crüe, along with a 2006 Big Day Out appearance, followed. Capitol Records flew them to the U.S. that year to cut the debut album Runnin' Wild with producer Bob Marlette. After the Capitol-Virgin merger left them among several acts dropped, Roadrunner Records quickly signed them for a worldwide release. Video-game makers licensed cuts for NHL 08, Madden NFL 08, and Skate. The high-octane second album No Guts. No Glory. surfaced in 2010, leading to a 2011 tour with Iron Maiden. Third release Black Dog Barking arrived in 2013. Breakin' Outta Hell, the fourth album, followed in 2016 on Spinefarm. In 2017 the band marked the tenth anniversary of Runnin' Wild with the box-set and B-sides collection Diamond Cuts. Fifth studio album Boneshaker emerged in 2019, its hard-rock framework pared to bare essentials across a brisk 30-minute span.