Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Baby 81
RCA
Nothing is better than loving a rock band that knows how to transform for each album without failure. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is one of the very few bands out there that has been able to reinvent its music without changing its hardcore style.
A couple of months ago, thousands of mouths dropped when an email was sent by BRMC’s Robert Levon Been announcing the new album: “It’s been a long time since I’ve written to everyone, but I think we have something well worth mentioning. We’ve just finished work on our fourth album. We’re very proud of it and it took a lot of blood, sweat and cheers to get it to this point.”
After reading this comes some anxiousness, as BRMC has done almost everything possible—from its first self-titled album to its second to 2005 release Howl. What would this new album sound like?
There was an important detail in Robert’s email that gave some insight: “It’s our first album with Nick [Jago] behind the drums since 2003, and it’s our life blood poured into this screaming mangled creation. It’s dirty and it’s beautiful, but the most important thing is that it’s a part of all three of us again.”
As to how the band got the album title, Baby 81, Robert explained that Nick thought of it awhile back. The title refers to a baby boy who was swept away from his mother’s arms during the 2004 tsunami. When he was found and admitted to a hospital, he was identified as “Baby 81,” and nine couples came forward to claim the child as their own.
The album’s first track, “Took Out a Loan,” is an immediate, personal rebellion against anything and everything: “I took out a loan on my empty heart babe, I took out a loan for my patient soul, and I feel alive as long as I don’t need you.”
Next is “Berlin,” which features heavy set drumming, and again, you hear the personal fight in the lyrics.
“Weapon of Choice” is the first single, and it immediately brands the sound of BRMC—with hard-struck chords that backup the lyrics. When Robert sings, “What is your weapon of choice? What is your weapon of choice,” pay attention to the details of the guitar; it’s enough to raise anyone’s hairs.
“Window” slows things down a bit, adding piano and featuring guitar playing that becomes its own voice. This track has a similar sound to the tunes from Howl. You could almost say that Baby 81 brings BRMC’s first, second and third albums together.
As each of the album’s songs progresses, so does the intensity of the beats. In “Cold Wind,” BRMC compares itself to the wind, which is quite a description: “And I’ve been waiting for the right time just to begin, I feel like the cold, cold wind.” Of course, a BRMC album isn’t complete without a song about something you want but just can’t have or didn’t get, and “Not What You Wanted” is one of the album’s most ambitious, hard driven beauties. “666 Conducer” was written for the woman who walks into a bar, owns the floor, walks up to the bartender and gets a cold one. Meow.
BRMC slows down the pace in “All You Do Is Talk,” and one of Baby 81’s best tracks is “Lien On Your Dreams,” which has become a must-hear-live song.
“Killing the Light” and “American X” feature profound guitar playing yet somehow avoid sounding the same as tracks on previous albums. BRMC has been able to offer something good yet different in this fourth album, which ends with “Am I Only,” a very moving song about questioning yourself.
BRMC took a giant risk when they released Howl, because it was far beyond what people expected. But the album was well received because the band was able to pull off what many, many others fail to accomplish: a reinvention of sound. If you listen to all of BRMC’s albums, they all offer something different, whereas other bands tend to stay with the same formula, the same lame notes and the same lame lyrics. Baby 81 serves as a good introduction for new BRMC fans, but it’s also a must-have for hardcore lovers.
An interesting note about the construction of this album: Although “Am I Only” was written by Robert in his late teens, he explained, “The sequence of this record is almost perfectly chronological from the first song we recorded for the album to the last. I know a lot of bands don’t do that, but I think it makes the album feel more alive; it’s like a living, breathing organism.”
And that is the feeling that Baby 81 gives you. I did worry that it might sound exactly like Take Them On, On Your Own, or too much like the first album, or that it would be too synthetic, but BRMC has proved me wrong. Rather, Baby 81 proves that they are one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands today. They don’t mess with the fundamentals of rock ‘n’ roll nor do they try pretty shit to impress their fans. This is as raw as it gets. Robert couldn’t have described it better when he said, “It’s basically what we do best; three guys playing rock ‘n’ roll better than any other band can.”
And oh do they do that.
BRMC are currently on tour in support of Baby 81, which is released May 1 through RCA, and perform at the Wiltern May 8 with supporting guest The Fratellis.
Track List:
1. Took Out a Loan
2. Berlin
3. Weapon of Choice
4. Window
5. Cold Wind
6. Not What You Wanted
7. 666 Conducer
8. All You Do Is Talk
9. Lien On Your Dreams
10. Need Some Air
11. Killing the Light
12. American X
13. Am I Only
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