Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Baby 81

THE REVIEW

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.