Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Baby 81

THE REVIEW

First America, the remote landscapes, the roots. Now England, brit-pop, walls of sound, but also grunge, stadium rock à la U2, or the "usual" Jesus & Mary Chain. After the beautiful journey into American musical roots that they decided to embark on two years ago with the excellent "Howl," the Black Rebel return to turn up the amplifiers with this new "Baby 81," preceded by a single like "Weapon Of Choice" (which feels like a more frantic and vigorous "Stop") indicative of this direction.

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, though it maintains a moderate and steady cruising speed. The subsequent "Berlin" winks at the dancy sounds so fashionable at the moment, while, after "Weapon Of Choice," "Window" is pure new britpop, with its piano intro stolen from something by Elton John and a Liam Gallagher-style lazy vocal performance. "Cold Wind" is, on the contrary, based on a beautifully gritty guitar riff and a vaguely grunge melody (thus in sharp contrast to the very first part of the record). For "It's Not What You Wanted," the same can be said for "Window," but here once again the six-string reigns supreme; "666 Conducer" (already available online before the album release) is truly interesting in its gritty-menacing pace, unlike "All You Do Is Talk" (U2 by the ton), which passes by flat and monotonous.

"Lein On Your Dreams" boasts the classic very-British ending with falsetto singing, "Need Some Air," on the other hand, raises the stakes and revitalizes the situation with a rather enjoyable and compelling pace. The subsequent "Killing The Light" with its forced falsetto is frankly unbearable and earns the palm of the worst track on the album, while "American X" stretches out into an instrumental ending in the style of the latest Dandy Warhols. The beautiful "I Am Only" closes, initially dominated by a nice acoustic riff, then by a decisive wall of sound.

Ultimately, the reference album returns to be "Take Them On...," if a comparison is necessary, but one must nonetheless forget the gritty-and-bad patina that characterized that album, in favor of greater attention in often developing melodies using a typically Anglo-Saxon mold.

It's up to you (and your tastes) to decide whether to still stick with Black Rebel or not...