ARTIST: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 

TITLE:  B. M. R. C.

YEAR RELEASED: 2001

CHART ACTION: #25 UK

SINGLES: Red Eyes and Tears, Rifles, Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll (#46 UK, #7 UK Indie), Love Burns (#37 UK), Sperad Your Love (#27 UK)

OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Nah

LINEUP: Peter Hayes, Robert Levon Been, Nick Jago

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: West Coast (LA – San Francisco) rock trio finds success in the UK with their debut album.

 SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Wags in the UK deemed this record “garage revivial”, though I didn’t realize garage bands used the production effects BMRC does, or delve in the moody minor-key world often. Sure, there are elements of garage rock here, but there’s so much more.

Case in point, the song Awake does have the garage guitars, but only during the chorus. It’s driven by a menacing keyboard riff and  the guitars are used as part of a climactic noise at the end of each verse

It is a blending of all kinds of rock from the past, coupled with a tasteful use of modern sounds, that made this album sound great in 2001, and it still sounds pretty good today. While some of the songs do linger on a bit long, many of the tunes sound radio-friendly yet uncompromising. The UK reception was warranted, and some in-the-know people started to pay attention as well.

NOTES & MINUTAE: Originally they were called the Elements, but there was another band using that name, so they chose Black Rebel Motorcycle Club as a tribute to Brando. Plus, it sounds bad-ass and fits their visual scheme.

IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION:  Yes, a couple three running around with Japanese cuts and B-sides.

GRADE: A-: A darn good debut and for those who like rock that honors their roots yet updates the sound.