BONED – Up At The Crack

UK based band Boned was initiated by one man’s total fascination with Bon Scott and AC/DC. 25 years after his first mind-blowing encounter with “the thunder from down-under,” the debut album Up At The Crack was released by this man and the other devoted friends, making up this quintet presently known as Boned.

Up At The Crack takes you back a couple of decades with its AC/DC style of Rock & Roll. After just a few bars of the opening and title track, “Up At The Crack,” the mood for the next 45 minutes is set. Bring out your convertible and cruise the sunny California streets of your imagination, or share a crate of beer with your friends at home with the volume set to 11 and let yourself be rocked to the bone!

The band’s devotion is to pick up where Bon Scott left off. Rather than messing with sacred originals, they’ve decided to write their own material, sticking to the formula so uniquely laid out by AC/DC in the past. Bold, one could say, and when aiming for the sky, there is always a risk of falling down.

Boned’s fascination for AC/DC goes deep and is well proven throughout the entire album. The boogie groove fuzz guitar is very much AC/DC, and so is the Donald Duck on helium vocals. Even the musical and lyrical phrasing and composition is right up the same alley. In fact, the band was formerly known as AC/DD, but changed their name to Boned to avoid confusion. In the end, Boned did not want be acknowledged as an AC/DC tribute band. Actually, this “lapse of originality” is rather symptomatic for the entire album.

Sticking to the nitpicking, the lead guitar is sometimes out of tempo, thus breaking down the crucial beat-pushing boogie groove. This effect is further pronounced by the dominating role the guitar has been given in the mix, especially at the expense of the vocals.

Nevertheless, this is a jolly good party album, and the band is likely to have a convincing live act. Even if Up At The Crack won’t make it as a classic, it’s worth checking out for all of you who dress up in boys’ school uniforms and drink Australian beer on weekends!

Album highlight: Loaded on Love