To put it simply,
Rhino Bucket sound exactly like
Bon Scott-era
AC/DC, something for which the band makes no apologies. Furthermore, what could easily be passed off as mere plagiarism becomes instead a celebration of the original masterpiece thanks to
Rhino Bucket's bold-faced indifference and oftentimes fantastic songs. They also deserve some credit for coming up with one of the most original and bizarre names in rock history.
Formed in Van Nuys, California in 1987 by Finnish-born transplant Georg Dolivo (
Bon Scott-cloned vocals and guitar), lead guitarist
Greg Fields, bassist Reeve Downes, and drummer Liam Jason,
Rhino Bucket perfectly replicated
AC/DC's raw, three-chord boogie to perfection on their self-titled debut album. But while they were quickly embraced by the U.K. and European press, the band was faced with nothing but apathy and scorn in America, where they were pegged as rip-off artists and received little promotional support from their label. Despite the inclusion of one of its tracks, "Ride with Yourself," in Mike Myers' popular
Wayne's World movie, their aptly titled second album, 1992's
Get Used to It, also failed to make any headway, and the band was soon unceremoniously dropped by
Reprise. Still they soldiered on, and in an ironic twist of fate, recruited former
AC/DC skin-pounder
Simon Wright to replace the departed Liam Jason for their third album, 1994's independently released Pain.
Rhino Bucket finally called it a day the following year, but eventually re-formed in 2001 with plans to record a new album. After a lengthy hiatus, the group returned in 2006 with
And Then It Got Ugly, which saw
Brian Forsythe of
Kix taking over lead guitar duties. In 2008 the band appeared on the soundtrack of director Darren Aronofsky's Oscar-winning sports drama The Wrestler, and the following year saw the group release their fifth studio long-player,
The Hardest Town. Who's Got Mine? dropped in 2011, followed by another olympic bout of touring that saw the band play a relentless string of shows both at home and abroad. After a short break from the studio,
Rhino Bucket returned with their seventh full-length, The Last Real Rock N' Roll, in 2017. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia