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Rating: Refining their pop approach further, after the curious 'Johnny Cash-ian' detour of "Howl", the Los Angeles-based Black Rebel Motorcycle Club return with an album of thirteen new songs, exactly two years later, maintaining a constant biennial rhythm as with all their previous works.
The style of this new CD betrays an evident return to "Take Them On, On Your Own", the 2003 album that cemented their success in Europe, although "Baby 81" further smooths certain rough edges of the past and brings a band ready to continually expand its potential audience back to the scenes.
Not for nothing, the return is on Island, a branch of the major Universal after a brief independent stint on Echo. This comeback places the sound of BRMC between the pop feedback of the never-forgotten Jesus & Mary Chain and certain more Britpop atmospheres that reference both historically renowned bands like Supergrass, Oasis, and Blur, and the style of new champions of English alternative rock, from Snow Patrol to Bloc Party and, why not, from Arctic Monkeys to Maximo Park, just to mention the most acclaimed ones at the moment.
The first six tracks are a breathtaking deadly sequence. From the contaminated blues of "Took Out A Loan", it moves to the wild rock'n'roll of "Cold Wind", through the Britpop of "Window" or the almost punk energy of "Berlin", in an effective musical kaleidoscope that unfolds with great effect throughout the record.
Indeed, these thirteen tracks are each more beautiful than the last, and it would be a disservice to highlight only a few. Let's just say this is one of those rare albums that you listen to with pleasure from the first to the last track without encountering any dips in tone or moments of tedium, which is not unlikely for this type of band. The reason for this exception to the rule is that BRMC have a great ability to effortlessly range from an abrasive and gritty style to a more decidedly pop style, favoring contagious or better yet 'catchy' melodic solutions — as they say across the pond — without appearing scattered or lacking a clear identity.
Perhaps they are indeed the true heirs of the Jesus & Mary Chain, with the difference being that the latter, throughout their decade-long career, took fewer risks by carving out a well-deserved niche as a 'cult-band' between the second half of the '80s and the early '90s, whereas the Black Rebel with these premises could see many doors opened in the future.
We'll see about that without failing to root for them.
And time will tell.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Took Out a Loan (04:16)
I took out a loan on my empty heart, babe
I took out a loan for my patient soul
And I feel alive as long as I don't need you
And I feel alive as long as I keep hold
I took out a loan on my empty heart, babe
I took out a loan for my patient soul
And I feel alive as long as I don't need you
And I feel alive as long as I keep hold
Of what I think I thought I heard you loved me
I think you thought you heard I loved
Have I been mistaken
Have I been mistaken
I feel confused about the way it's done
I won't be denied
I'm coming in this time, babe
I've fallen in love with your creatures soul
And I've been a witness to your sickest obsession
And I feel alive as long as I keep hold
Of what I think I thought I heard you loved me
I think you thought you heard I loved
Have I been mistaken have I been mistaken
I feel confused about the way it's done
02 Berlin (03:11)
have a little love, as were fighting with each other
aint no use in crying like the others
were fools in need, fools to believe,
there are fools in need, to foolish to believe
im gonna, uh somebody, uh somebody
here but dont you please, ive got time and time to bleed
it aint no use in trying to deceive ive been fooled by the lover, fooled by the sinner, fooled myself into thinking i was living
im fighting just to breathe as i get back off my knees
help me somebody
help me somebody
im fighting just to breathe as i get back off my knees
im gonna, uh somebody, uh somebody, uh somebody, uh somebody
she said
suicides easy, what happened to the revolution
suicides easy, what happened to the revolution
suicides easy, what happened to the revolution
suicides easy, what happened to the revolution
heavy little lovers, as were fighting with each other
aint no use in suffering like the others
were fools in need, fools to believe,
there are fools in need, to foolish to believe
im fighting just to breathe as i get back off my knees
help me somebody
help me somebody
im fighting just to breathe as i get back off my knees
im gonna, um somebody, um somebody, um somebody, um somebody, um somebodies gonna, somebody, hurt somebody,
um somebodies gonna, somebody
she said
suicides easy, what happened to the revolution
suicides easy, what happened to the revolution
suicides easy, what happened to the revolution
suicides easy, what happened to the revolution
03 Weapon of Choice (02:50)
I gotta speak and you want to listen up
There is no time to feast your eyes
You want it all but the world won't give it up
Up to the edge your star will rise
What is your weapon of choice,
What's your weapon of choice
There is no weapon to free us all
What is your weapon of choice,
What's your weapon of choice
There is no weapon to free us all
I won't waste it, I won't waste it, I won't waste my love on a nation
I won't waste it, I won't waste it, I won't waste my love on a nation
Everyone's got their own split factions
Every pawn will pay it's price
I've been digging out in all directions
I'll see you through to the after life
What is your weapon of choice,
What's your weapon of choice
There is no weapon to free us all
What is your weapon of choice,
What's your weapon of choice
There is no weapon to free us all
I won't waste it, I won't waste it, I won't waste my love on a nation
I won't waste it, I won't waste it, I won't waste my love on a nation
It's to hard too stand aside
It's enough to stop your heart
I won't waste it, I won't waste it, I won't waste my love on a nation
I won't waste it, I won't waste it, I won't waste my love on a nation
I won't waste it, I won't waste it, I won't waste my love on a nation
I won't waste it, I won't waste it, I won't waste my love on a nation.
07 666 Conducer (04:01)
No one knows her name but they see her youth and use her
She's feeling free and everything she sees is truth
She's seventeen she's got everything she needs to lose
Yeah yeah yeah oh no
She's got everyone to help her on her way
She's got everyone to help her on her way
She's got everyone to help her on her way, down
He seems to know right where it hurts your pain, in vain
He gives himself to you he's in your way
And everything he does just seems a phase, insane
Yeah yeah yeah oh no
He's got everyone to help him on his way
He's got everyone to help him on his way
He's got everyone to help him on his way, down
Everything you touch tears at your heart, apart
Of everything you see down in your soul never let you go
You've got everyone to help you on your way
You've got everyone to help you on your way
You've got everyone to help you on your way, down
You're a 666 conducer
How do you do the things you do sir
You're a 666 conducer
How do you do the things you do sir
You're a 666 conducer
How do you do
How do you do
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Other reviews
By GrantNicholas
The new work opens with the notes of "Took Out A Loan," dominated by a repetitive yet enjoyable riff and the changes in drum tempo.
"Killing The Light" with its forced falsetto is frankly unbearable and earns the palm of the worst track on the album.
By breakerfall
There is a breath of spirituality from the first to the last track of this Baby 81 and those who haven't noticed it should listen better.
Isn't it wonderful to not have to skip even one? It's only rock'n'roll, but it's all we want.
