Buckcherry

Recycling AC/DC riffs has not proven as popular as it was in the '80s and '90s, as many contemporary metal heads have chosen double snare drum deviltry (along with Cookie Monster meets Beelzebub vocalizing) as the path toward the darker side. Los Angeles' Buckcherry happily go against that trend, embracing the sleazy danger of classic Guns N' Roses and the crunchy riffing of Angus Young as the template for their horny tales of urban debauchery. "Crazy Bitch," the undeniably catchy hit from Fifteen, the band's recent effort, is as guilty of a pleasure as one is likely to stumble across as lead singer Josh Todd (ingloriously dumped by Slash and replaced by Scott Weiland as the frontman for Velvet Revolver) shouts his way toward junior high nirvana as the band pounds away, unimpaired by any thoughts of modernity. Buckcherry's loud and cheesy assault serves notice that dangerous music need not be beholden to pretentious notions of demonic possession or heavily applied eyeliner.