Review:

on 2011-02-22 CharlesMartel Said:

Whatever the merits or otherwise of the opinions of the muso-snobs, it is ultimately hard not to like "BRMC". This is, plain and simple, good old get down dirty rock and roll. It is never going to be anyone's favourite album, but it has enough simple melodies to stick in the head to the extent that it could become an irritation if overdone. Whether I could take too much of this particular style of music is another matter. One of the problems I had in reviewing this was that I also bought, at the same time, "Take Them On, On Your Own" and the risk of overload is consequently elevated.

If you are going to name your band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club you are pretty much setting yourself to appeal to a particular brand of music fan. If you then do not play exactly that type of music then one has to wonder what was the point of it all. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club do not play the sort of music you would expect, thankfully - I don't think I could listen to an album of second rate AC/DC impersonators to be honest, so it kind of begs the question, why did they give themselves such a name in the first place. It is not a question which is going to find an easy answer.

The band clearly draws heavily on influences from the mid- to late-eighties. In particular, anyone who has ever heard "Psychocandy" by the Jesus and Mary Chain will recognise the blurred fuzz which pervades the music on this album. But whereas the Jesus and Mary Chain used guitar distortion as a substitute for a coherent melody, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club use it as an enhancement. The melodies are strong right the way throughout the album. "Love Burns" is a typical example of this, and is as good an opening track as you will find anywhere. Like the Overtures of classical symphonies and operas, this provides a taster and summary of what is to follow.

Thereafter, the album provides a steady flow of catchy songs until the last track, "Salvation" which comes across as unbearably slow. I really don't know why this track should have been so placed - ending an album of up-tempo tracks with a slow one does not bode well for the next release. However, non of this means that the album lacks variety. Indeed, there is a lot you can do with the guitar-bass-drums format if you have the right collection of songs. Tracks such as "Rifles", "Red Eyes", "Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll" and especially "Spread Your Love" all leave the right impression. You sometimes get the feeling that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are, at heart, a pop band!

But pop this is not. They might be cool enough to form part of the soundtrack to a Vin Diesel film, but that is as close to mainstream as it is going to get. Three guys, clad in black, with a name like that, and producing, what is at the end of it all, rather dark and depressing music is not going to make for radio fodder. It may have forebodings of transience, and that is my main criticism of this album (perhaps in the light of my simultaneous purchase of their second album) but if that happens it will be due to the limitations of the band and their musical development rather than the vagaries of the pop world.
Rating: 7/10