Gillingham, Kent, UK (By Mikey) - Each week I preview an album which I think deserves a listen to and if it's worth to buy, I will cater for all tastes of music from R'n'B to Rock, Hip hop and Pop. At the end of the page, you will find all future album releases.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Take Them On, On Your Own (Virgin)
Release Date: 25 August 2003
After a two year hiatus, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Peter Hayes (guitar, bass, vocals), Robert Turner (bass, guitar, vocals), Nick Jago (drums, percussion) - return with their eagerly awaited sophomore album. Written over the past year or so, 'Take Them On, On Your Own' finds the band in ebullient form and ready to take on all-comers.
"Black Rebel Motorcycle Club" may be a bit of a mouthful but it aptly describes the vibe that this US trio created with their successful debut album. Named after Brando's gang in The Wild One, this was a band dressed in black leather, who created music reeking of Harley Davidson exhaust smoke and whisky. The whisky in question was more likely to be Scottish single malt than bourbon, however, for BRMC's sound was that of The Jesus And Mary Chain resurrected for the 21st century.
Second time around, and BRMC are proclaiming the same gospel. There is a comforting familiarity about opener and current single Stop's deadpan vocal, distorted, down-tuned guitars and the low-end bass that is more of an earthquake than a rumble. If Stop is this album's Spread Your Love, then the next track, Six Barrel Shotgun, is Whatever Happened To Our Rock 'N' Roll (Punk Rock Song) in barely-concealed disguise. That equates to a frenetic, driving rhythm, adrenalised, feedback-soaked guitars and the pseudo-psycho lyrics: "I'd kill you all but I need you so." Charming.
Exploding outta the streets authenticity and a psychotic desire to confront and rebel are valuable commodities in rock'n'roll. Ever since year zero, the desire to keep it 'real', alongside a modus operandi intent on nailing the tails of the world's blue meanies, has been irresistibly rapacious.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have done the maths. Initially, the signs were promising: a bad ass, smack belch of a band seemingly manufactured by a panel of junkie icons and outcasts, featuring Lester Bangs, Marlon Brando, Jim and William Reid, Iggy Pop and, er, Noel Gallagher. The oily darkness leaking from every pore, the gulping for air, cuttingly pertinent sloganeering - 'whatever happened to my rock'n'roll?' - and an exhilarating sensory attack of barbaric potency.
However, this veneer was swiftly cracked by the band's self-titled debut album, exposing a surface of programmed, capricious insouciance, dangerously in tune with the times and those with the loudest voices. Indeed, as confirmed by 'Take Them On, On Your Own', BRMC have little to say for themselves, let alone the fact that we appear to be slowly squeezing the trigger on the world's face.
It all starts in hammering, if typical, style. 'Stop' reeks and rolls with BRMC's formidable stench of heaving mass: the fuzzsaw bass, bulbous distortion and Peter Hayes' provocative "we don't like you, we just wanna try you" swagger. Next up, 'Six Barrel Shotgun' zeroxes the wounded thrash so righteously minted on breakthrough track 'Punk Song'. Essentially, it is that very song. This is a recurring revelation throughout 'Take Them On...'
The suggestion that this record is a machete-wielding, bloody blade of slashes at the world's ills and power mongers is way off the mark. The vague, clumsy polemic that litters 'Take Them On...' actually reaches its nirvana with the shrugging disdain of 'Generation', where Hayes makes a feeble stab at America's rather lively foreign policy: "I'm choosing sides. I'm keeping up with you and your invasion eyes." Wow. The rest is as lucid and sturdy as a chocolate kettle. Equally, 'US Government' and 'Shade Of Blue' manage to make institutionalised, '1984'-style control and imminent death sound about as disturbing as an episode of 'Friends'.
Elsewhere, it's a blitz of interminable sonic repetition, attitude by default and false dawns. 'Suddenly' boasts the lines "I'm so high" - the security code to the gates of 'creative drought' - whilst the acoustic ballad 'And I'm Aching' contains the surely ironic vocal outro of "I move on". Finally, closer 'Heart And Soul' has as much in common with Joy Division as you or I do with the current whereabouts of Ian Curtis.
Overall then, Take Them On, On Your Own generates mixed feelings. It is frequently classy, occasionally wearisome and probably a couple of songs too long. It finds BRMC waltzing after their debut album because it's one small step forward and two larger ones to the side. That'll do for now but let's hope they tango a bit more on the next one.
7/10
As quoted by NME:
'Take Them On, On Your Own' proves that it's possible to have something to say and make a record that's so exciting, different and brilliantly executed it will suck the air from your lungs. 'Take Them On, On Your Own' is a masterpiece. You should get hold of it as soon as possible'.
TRACK LISTING
1. Stop
2. Six Barrel Shotgun
3. We're All In Love
4. In Like The Rose
5. Ha Ha High Babe
6. Generation
7. Shade Of Blue
8. US Government
9. And I'm Aching
10. Suddenly
11. Rise Or Fall
12. Going Under
13. Heart & Soul
ALBUM RELEASE SCHEDULE
06 October
Clea - 'Identity Crisis'
Siobhan Donaghy - 'Revolution In Me'
Elvis Presley - '2nd To None'
Lemonescent - 'Unconditional Love'
Soft Cell - 'Soft Cell Live'
13 October
Blondie - 'The Curse Of Blondie'
Sheryl Crow - 'The Very Best of Sheryl Crow'
Funeral For A Friend - 'Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation'
Travis - '12 Memories'
20 October
Chingy - 'Jackpot'
Erasure - 'Hits! The Very Best Of'
Myleene Klass - 'Moving On'
Texas - 'Careful What You Wish For'
The Strokes - 'Room On Fire'
Suede - 'Singles'
27 October
The Beautiful South - 'Gaze'
Sophie Ellis Bextor - 'Shoot From The Hip'
Emma - 'Simply Me'
Stacie Orrico - 'Stacie Orrico'
REM - 'In Time: The Greatest Hits'
Sugababes -'Three'
03 November
Liberty X - 'Being Somebody'
Primal Scream - 'Dirty Hits'
Underworld - 'Anthology: 1992-2002'
10 November
Coldplay - Coldplay Live 2003
Mark Owen - In Your Own Time
Pet Shop Boys - PopArt (1985-2003)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Greatest Hits
Triple Eight - Heavy W8
17 November
Various Artists - Now That's What I Call Music! 56
Michael Jackson - #1s
Pink - Try This
Cliff Richard - Cliff At Christmas
Britney Spears - In The Zone
24 November
Busted - A Present For Everyone
Lemar - Dedicated
