Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
B.R.M.C.
Virgin
When your band is wholeheartedly endorsed by Jim Reid (ex-of Jesus and Mary Chain), Johnny Marr (Electronic/former Smith), and Oasis’ Noel Gallagher, you know you’ve absolutely gotta be the shit. That lucky band is Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and judging by their debut album, B.R.M.C., they are certainly hot shit. On B.R.M.C., the San Francisco three-piece walk the not-so-tangible line between the streetwalkin’ sleeze-skree of the Mary Chain’s Honey’s Dead and the symphonic soul-swirl of Spiritualized’s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, thus resulting in a unique sound that’s tangibly their own. Sure, vocalists Peter Hayes and Robert Turner (guitar and bass, both) may seem quite enamored with the younger Reid brother’s outta-his-head sneer/drawl, but hey, hey, hey • that’s alright by me. And for as effects-pedal-friendly as both men are, it’s a good, good thing that the album is swathed in a gorgeously clear production (courtesy of Hayes, Turner, David Shiffman, and Masaki • anyone else?!), altogether arriving at one of the best-sounding records this year. As thoroughly and sinfully narcotic as music • American or otherwise • is gonna get these days, whether it be rocking a space-jam or staggering alone in a (very loud) trance, B.R.M.C. begins possibly one of the most exciting new careers around. Color me stoked beyond belief.
Virgin, 338 N. Foothill Road, Beverly Hills, CA 90210; http://www.blackrebelmotorcycleclub.com
