Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81 (April 30, 2007)

Each time I turned on Baby 81 to start reviewing it - I ended up dancing in my bedroom with music set on the highest volume and some really distracted neighbors deciding which one of them should kill me when they happen to have a chance. And - as you're reading this - just keep in mind that it takes a whole lot of effort to be sitting still when this music is playing loud.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has always been one of the bands that are somehow all in one. You can't really say what influenced them most - was that the 70s wave of British Invasion, or pure american folk rock, maybe? Oh, wait, it's got to be Nirvana! And Sex Pistols! Aerosmith spiced up with britpop genius! And all that mixed up with some bluesy mood, post-rock sound and the beat that you simply cannot help but dance to. And while you're wondering, you'll suddenly find yourself all into their music, not getting tired of it even for a blink of an eye.

Baby 81 is a great example. Mixed-up genres, so much emotion and guitar riffs that may easily get you hypnotized. Took Out a Loan starts with a typical Jimi Hendrix tune smoothly turning into pure B.R.M.C. as we know it. Yet you empathize, you keep dancing. You feel the desperation, but you also feel the energy and know it'll be the one to take over. You want to go singing Berlin on streets, you grab a guitar to play along with Weapon of Choice, and you know you would support any politician whose words were half as relevant as those lyrics. "So how's it going to feel? When you don't know what's real..", sings Peter Hayes, as you're suddenly confused with all the emotional levels you discover with each song.


And as the album plays on, I better not torture myself any more and start torturing the neighbors instead: for this music has been written for listening, not talking - it says it all. Because - "I needed more, and I needed more, but this is more than I ever wanted to believe in". Sorry for the lousy review, my head is really out of thoughts and all ears instead. But - hey, you should try it yourself sometimes! ;)


1 comments:

Goyushek said...

Eheh, the same happens to me sometimes. What I noticed recently, their music is quite similar to Stereophonics'. Weird. Anyway, one of a few American bands that I REALLY like! :)