Thunder - Rip It Up (2017)

This album comes nearly three decades into their career and, if 27 is normally famed and feared as the rock milestone at which many of the great and the good have had their creative flames extinguished, then Thunder have arrived with a bulging bag of tunes, a notebook of great lyrics, a jerrycan of petrol, and a match. There are rockers, like the incendiary title track, ripsnorters like ‘She Likes The Cocaine’, whilst songs like ‘Right From The Start’ take the pace down, but turn the intensity up. Whilst the album closes out with the stylish blues-tinged melancholia of ‘There’s Always A Loser’, it’s clear that the band have continued with their winning ways. After a Summer of great gigs including killer performances at Ramblin’ Man and Steelhouse Festival, the quintet know what works and how to pace a set of songs.