Even before January's out, it sems preordained that BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB are gonna cause the kind of media feeding frenzy that THE STROKES were responsible for during 2001.
So, basically expect to be deluged in a tidal wave of hyperbole from now on, because - especially after the Twin Towers calamity - we all seem to need some incendiary, guitar slingin' dudes in the classic US tradition to cling onto, and this none-more smouldering trio definitely fit the bill.
Thing is, both the crunching "Whatever Happened To My Rock'n'Roll ?(punk song)" and "Love Burns" singles suggest (for once) that such overkill is justified and that this buncha moody dudes from San Francisco via Los Angeles are worthy of taking to our (leather-clad) hearts.
So now we come to the debut album; the one that sorts the Jacks from the Julians, if y'get m'drift. And the good news is that "BRMC" gets a unanimous thumbs up after very rigorous testing.
Let's get one thing straight from the very start, though. If you're after rampant sonic innovation or shiny originality, slip quietly out the back door, 'cos we're talking about our old friend the reinvention of the guitar rock wheel here and thus it's impossible to cruise through this review without a certain quotient of retro references seeping through, from the band's Marlon Brando-bothering moniker upwards.
If yu're still here, however, you won't regret it, because "BRMC" is corker regardless. What surprises, though, especially after THE STROKES' reliance on all things Noo Yoik and THE WHITE STRIPES' realignment of old blues' mores - is that most of the band's heart-on-sleeve influences are British through and through.
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN (already oft-mentioned) are certainly there in the drone-y grooves and (only occasional) feedback overload, as are JOY DIVISION (bassist Robert Turner steps right into Peter Hook's melody-defining shoes during "White Palms")but I also hear echoes of THE VERVE (sorry,MJ!) in Peter Hayes' Nick McCabe-style guitar drift and the loping, expansive soundscapes conjured up by looming tunes like "As Sure As The Sun" and the (relatively) ethereal "Awake." Hell, the hard-on for love "Spread Your Love" even dares to update a glamtastic stomp a la "The Jean Genie", with its' chew'n'spit riff strutting and Peter Hayes' blaring harp.
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Another plus point is that "BRMC" still sounds convincing when they slip down a gear or two, attested to by both "Awake" and the cracking "Head Up High". Bizarrely, Hayes' creepy drawl recalls the King of Laconic himself, Peter Perrett during the verses, whilst the song itself rises to a suitably inexorable climax. Pehaps most notable of all, meanwhile, is the closing "Salvation", which (almost) comes on like the woozy rays of a new day after a particularly long night, before eventually settling into a Velvets-y drone.
Yet, for now anyway, it's the anthems we'll kill for, and BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB do 'em in style. Built around circular riffing and drummer Nick Jago's incessant, Mo Tucker-ish hammering, "Love Burns" bursts into an effortlessly simple chorus that'll bankroll 'em for years, whilst "Red Eyes And Tears" nags and glowers beautifully and "Whatever Happened To My Rock'n'Roll", well...it's destined to be an anthem for the disenfranchised everywhere, innit?
So there you have it. Despite the moody presence and the (apparently) unstoppable hype, BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB are cut from very familiar rock'n'roll cloth. Don't expect answers to big issues, 'cos there's precious little of a manifesto attached to this here gang, except a savage willingness to espouse rock's virtues ("I gave my heart to a simple cause" screams Hayes during "Whatever Happened To My Rock'n'Roll?"). Banal on paper, I grant you, but bloody exciting to behold on record. For the moment, at least.
Consider us won over.
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