From the deepest recesses of the souuuuuul came three earnest, young, bad-hair-day-suffering, dressed-in-black men, all intent on bringing their gloomy drone r’n’r to the masses. Fortunately, they had some great singles and their debut album was well received. More of the same, vicar?
Take Them On, On Your Own, an Album by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Released 25 August 2003 on Virgin (catalog no. CDVUS 245; CD). Genres: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock.
Oh, go on then.
With the weight of the hype on their shoulders and potential train-wreck antics waiting in the wings, BRMC cast a scornful look and laugh in the face of your Difficult Second Album. Hah! Like many good albums, it doesn’t hit immediately but repeated listening quickly quells any ‘is that it?’ upset.
Thing is, BRMC are the wolves in sheep’s clothing – the wolf being the big roaring indie monster beast (and this is ‘indie’ in the old-fashioned musical term, y’hear). Listen! It’s evident on ‘Shades Of Blue’ – it’s Ride in those harmonies! They have a sensitive side too. Hark! The sound of an acoustic guitar on ‘And I’m Aching’ - ladies and gentlemen, we have a ballad. Lo and behold, it’s definitely a highlight.
That’s not saying they’ve gone totally wuss-rock. You want angst with distorted guitars? You got it. In spades. Opener and first single ‘Stop’ has already moved itself up the ladder from being Their New Single to being Their Great New Single, and while ‘Six Barrel Shotgun’ isn’t quite the rip-roarin’, foot-stompin’, chunky-chunky rock beast that ‘Whatever Happened To…’ is, it’s not far off. Bravo.
Then there’s ‘Suddenly’, a jittering, atmospheric mini epic of a stark, plodding nature that sort of gives out a suffering“urrghhhhghghh” but in a good way, and then there’s ‘Rise Or Fall’, which is another fast one where the bass goes “chugga-chugga-chugga” like a few of their other songs do. And then there’s ‘Heart And Soul’, which is pretty much more of the same only without the cool, dirty bass, which ends the album. Oh. Had ‘Stop’ been the closer and ‘Six Barrel Shotgun’ been the opener, it woulda made more sense. But that’s a minor issue.
They’ve pulled it off, then. Come and get sucked in…
- [redacted]'s Score
There's something dead satisfying and timeless about the coincidence of blistering rock 'n' roll& leather jackets. For some reason the pairing seemed to be off the agenda until Black Rebel Motorcycle Club emerged from what, judging by their curl-lipped and sunken eyed demeanour, could only be a smoke-filled subterranean rehearsal room in a dark corner of Hades. Their name comes from the Marlon Brando's biker gang in The Wild One - need we say more?
Boasting an awesome palette of sounds, their self-titled debut had more swagger than Jesus & Mary Chain's Psychocandy and more effects pedals than the Pixies back catalogue, chuck in the Nietzschean rumblings of The Doors and the squally guitars of Echo & The Bunnymen and you're definitely in the right ballpark.
The black leather jackets and black T-shirts are still there for this sophomore effort, recorded mainly in London's Fortress Studios in the aftershock of the debut. On first listen it sounds like a retread of their first album minus the effects and with a vogueishly garage feel to it.
It's definitely leaner, grittier. There's so much spiky fuzz on the guitars, it's an ear-lacerating experience first time round, like listening to heavy artillery from beneath the gun barrel. With the benefit of second and third listens the hot, heavy soul of this album begins to pump within, choruses suddenly leaping to the fore in twisted mantras.
The opening track, 'Stop' (the first single) begins a brutal assault that barely lets up until the albums close nearly an hour later.'Six Barrel Shotgun' rides roughshod over any fey, melancholic tendencies the band may have had previously, only for them to reappear later in the (almost) tender 'And I'm Aching'. Dual vocalists Peter Hayes and Robert Turner attend to their duties with the surliness of a scally at closing time, though such attitude belies the fact they're actually from Los Angeles.
There's a bleakness, like the howl of blizzard, at the heart of Take Them On... especially in its early stages. Though to suggest it's uncomfortable listening would be to ignore the visceral pleasures of being aurally scrubbed by this bruising rock. Tense and ferocious then, but all the better for it.