Buckcherry

The Los Angeles band Buckcherry arrived at the precisely the right moment in the late ’90s to save hard rock from the scrapheap. The album opener, “Lit Up,” is a fist-jacking nod to toxic treats that punched through radio speakers like a brass-knuckled fist. It was one of those rare moments when you think you’re getting fooled but you’re not, and it makes you believe in rock ’n’ roll again as a cultural force. The whole album sustains that feeling. Amid the churning, four-on-the-floor riffage there are tilts to Southern rock (“Check Your Head”), white-boy R&B (“Borderline,” complete with Hammond organ), and proof that the band members were weaned on ’70s FM-radio rock (the Robin Trower-ish “Baby”). The closest thing to a ballad (“For the Movies”) is all English-styled hard rock with a surprisingly sensitive lyric of encouragement to a hurting friend. Sex Pistol Steve Jones helped out in the production department, which accounts for how Pistols-esque the guitars sound. And Joshua Todd proves he’s a great rock ’n’ roll singer and frontman.