Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Wrong Creatures" due 01/12/18

I loved these bands when they were new. Throwbacks? Maybe but I was young (er) and writing for an - now defunct - online magazine and it was exciting to be part of it. That alone was enough

 

No one asked, but I'm going to give my ratings of each main album and some thoughts:

BRMC - One of my favorite debuts. Great stuff, they hit the mark on this for sure. I bought a CD copy long after the fact that has intros and outros for most of the tracks--is this how it was originally released?
Grade: A / Fave cuts: "Love Burns", "Rifles", "Red Eyes & Tears"

Take Them On, On Your Own - to me, the follow up to their debut is much more of the same, with an even harder edge. A bit puzzling to me that this was viewed as a disappointment of sorts. Though the songs aren't as strong as the debut, overall, IMO.
Grade: B / Fave cuts: "Six Barrel Shotgun", "Ha Ha High Babe", "Suddenly"

Howl - This was a bold record to make after the first two. Didn't like it at first, it had to grow on me. Like this one a lot, they really stuck the landing here.
Grade: A / Fave cuts: "Shuffle Your Feet", "Ain't No Easy Way", "Weight Of The World", "Complicated Situation"

Baby 81 - I suppose this was to be a return to form, but to me this was a disappointment coming after "Howl". Some good ideas here and there, needed a bit of editing though.
Grade: C / Fave cuts: "Cold Wind", "Weapon Of Choice", "Killing The Light",

Beat The Devil's Tattoo - To me, this album is like a hybrid of the band's early sound and "Howl", and it works quite well. Though this is a crazy-long record.
Grade: B+ / Fave cuts: "Conscience Killer", "Evol", "Aya", "Half State"

Specter At The Feast - Another very solid, rocking release. I think this and BtDT are very similar records in some ways. And just like that record, this one is stuffed to the gills with material. Enjoyable though.
Grade: B / Fave cuts: "Let The Day Begin", "Rival", "Funny Games"

Wrong Creatures - After five years, it sure is good to have the band back. They don't exactly reinvent the wheel here, but this one has great atmosphere and vibe. Just like the last two, there's plenty to dive into material-wise.
Grade: B / Fave cuts: "Spook", "Question Of Faith", "Ninth Configuration"

 

It's funny, I was thinking as I listened to the new one that BRMC are one of the few bands where the "CD bloat" approach doesn't bother me. I like when they lock into the grooves and ride a song out, they manage to pull it off through vibe alone. Not many bands can do that.

 

I used to think that more was never a problem, that I would just skip what I didn't like or make my own playlist, which is usually what I did.

This concept of "the album has to be short and tight" seemed to really gain prominence with people again in the last 8 years or so.

Of course, I was one of the loudest complainers that Radiohead's Hail To The Thief needed to be cut down, so there you go.

 

Depends on the band and, to a greater extent, genre. I mean, a 65 minute doom album makes sense. A 22-track, 58 minute power pop record? Not so much. I think the kind of guitar-heavy stuff BRMC does is better suited to stretching things out.

 

Well... any contribution is highly welcome, so keep them coming

Just finished "Specter At The Feast" from vinyl and was surprised how much I liked it. Funny that you compared it to "Beat The Devil's Tattoo" because I just thought that this and "Howl" were pretty unique albums in the BRMC catalogue. Unusually this album starts more moody and shimmering with four Robert songs (at least I think it's Robert) before Peter chimes in with "Hate The Taste". There's definitely a bit of cliché in "Teenage Disease" but BRMC are one of the few bands that can pull that off and get away with it. To date 8 minute closer "Lose Yourself" is the third longest song in their catalogue - after "Half-State" (10+) and "American X" (9+) - and it's a great and blissful way to wrap things up. That the album ends like it starts - with a "Fire Walker" reprise - is a nice touch. Oh... and of course the "Let The Day Begin" cover. A song an ex played to death around 1989.

I guess my next stop will be "Baby 81".

 

The more I'm revisiting these BRMC albums, the more I think you are right. Obviously there are better and lesser tracks on "Beat The Devil's Tattoo" and "Specter At The Feast" - the two I have just listened to - but I wouldn't take anything off. There's not a single track I actively dislike. Like I said above, this band has a sound I really like.

 

Well... when I first heard BRMC it was as part of the 2001 garage/ new wave revival so I was perplexed that their debut - when it finally arrived - clocked in at 58 minutes. After all these 30-40 minute albums by The Strokes or White Stripes I wasn't prepared for that. But I also wasn't aware that Peter had been in Brian Jonestown. So a certain amount of meandering was to be expected

 

Albums ranked length-wise:


1. Beat The Devil's Tattoo - 65:08
2. Baby 81 - 60:26
3. Take Them On - 59:01
4. Specter/ Wrong Creatures - 58:42 both
5. BRMC - 57:08
6. Howl - 54:47


(Effects Of The 333 - 55:02)

 

Well, I haven't listened to BtDT or Specter from front to back in quite a long time. Listening through Specter now.

There is footage of a very young Peter Hayes playing acoustic guitar and singing a song in the BJM / Dandy Warhols documentary Dig!, back when he was a member of BJM for a short while.

 

Sorry for the double post, but I just listened to Specter At The Feast all the way through, for the first time in years, easily--got to say, some of it is a bit of a slog. Too many ballads at the beginning, too many samey rockers towards the end (though I did highlight "Funny Games" as a favorite, and it gives the album a much-needed shot in the arm at that point).

I still enjoy the record for what it is and stand by my B grade. I don't love all the songs here, but they're very affecting more often than not. But unlike neonbeam, I might have opted to trim a few had it been up to me. But they made the record they wanted to make, and that's what makes BRMC great, ultimately.

Also, Spotify tacks on 3 non-album tracks, and man, they are not among their best work. "The Knife" is my favorite out of the 3.

 

Funny you say that; I originally became a fan of BRMC by way of The Brian Jonestown Massacre; and I first became a fan of BJM through the movie “Dig”.

Now if you haven’t seen this movie, do yourself a favor and check it out.

The film is essentially a chronicle of the self-implosion of one of the last true rock & roll bands of the 20th century; and by “true rock & roll”, I mean these guys were ONLY in it for the music and their “f*** - the- man” course of self-destruction.

Anyway, as you mentioned, Peter Hayes was a brief member of BJM in 1997 and appears in this film several times. Fortunately Peter didn’t get sucked-in to the drug fueled, anarchy-train wreck that ultimately became Jonestown’s legacy, but I think that the music that he has created with the BRMC has definitely been influenced by that brief experience.

Check it out. I believe that you can stream the entire film through youtube, but here’s the trailer...

 

It's funny because Anton lived (lives?) just around the corner but back in 1996 a local dealer - errrrr.... given the subject I probably should write: record dealer- recommended "Their Satanic Majesties 2nd Request" because he knew I was into Spacemen 3 and Kranky and I even bought it but I thought it was a slog. I had a similar experience with The Warlocks, obviously like the sound but the music didn't really appeal.

But.... yeah.... compared to that BRMC could definitely be seen as "playing it safe". And I always thought, Peter was some kind of Dean Moriarty figure for Robert. Who grew up in a rather sheltered environment. And... hey.... his dad was friends with Peter Gabriel and Bono in the 80's

 

Well.. I really enjoyed "Specter", stretched across four sides of vinyl it has a nice flow. I checked out "American X - The Baby 81 Sessions" next and only made it through 50%. That really dragged and I vowed never to call an BRMC album track "b-side material" again. "MK Ultra" - an acoustic version of "US Government" - is very nice. It's one of those rare occasions where Robert's and Peter's voices are clearly seperated.

 

I just drove to LA, little over an hour with bad traffic, knowing this, I put on Beat the Devil's Tattoo, and about 50 minutes in, even knowing what I was getting into, I'm like, "man this record will not end!" Not a slog, just... I don't know, too much?

And people talking about Brian Jonestown Massacre, as if they were good... blech - I saw them live a few times in their heyday, mid to late '90s, usually opening up for bigger bands, and they we terrible! Unprofessional (took forever between songs, infighting), terrible musicians (out of tune, out of sync with each other), and just not good - zero charisma/personality on stage. They could've had the greatest songs ever written, but it wouldn't have mattered because every thing else about them flat out SUCKED.

 

I think it's a subconscious reaction to the "infinite jukebox in the cloud," whether it's a streaming service or playing music from a local digital library. When albums start to drag or feel a bit stagnant, it's so much easier to switch to something else than it used to be. There are valid negatives to this, of course, that are still (and will forever be) discussed ad nauseum, but on the flipside, I think it also means the album has to work harder to earn that amount of time in your life.

I think a lesser, but still reasonable factor may also be the vinyl comeback, and people sort of subconsciously rediscovering the 40-minute all-killer-no-filler complete album statement...buying those reissues of Dark Side and Abbey Road and realizing they crammed a 70-minute CD's worth of ideas onto two 20-minute album sides, and there's something to that.

There's some amazing music on that record, but the whole thing at once is a slog. I dunno, I think BRMC is...not one-dimensional, but they very much have their vibe and sound for an album, and don't deviate too much from it sonically. I mean, I love the Ramones, but I'd have a very hard time with a 65-minute Ramones studio album, y'know?

 

They're definitely not one-dimensional, they're persistent and relentless. You have to buy into their logic to fully enjoy it. And to accept some clichés.

This vibe thing is totally true. This is why I prefer to listen to BRMC from double vinyl. I think these albums require some kind of special listening atmosphere. Ideally it has to be night, the room should have some ambient lightning. Plus I love to hear them through headphones with no distraction.

And unlike other bands of their vintage, I couldn't single out an album of theirs as failure. When I'm in BRMC mood any of their records would be just fine

Except for "The Effects Of The 333" (finally got the title right. Even though it wouldn't be beyond BRMC to use "666"). But don't get me started on that

 

I am really happy that after 17 years BRMC are still around and feeling well while their contemporaries not so.
For example Interpol currently touring with a setlist consisting mostly of 2002-2007 material. And I do not know what the hell are doing The Strokes nowadays.

BRMC have a vast catalog. They may be repetitive but never released a weak album (except that ambient one). Apparently they have pretty strict attitude and work ethics, they even are dressed in the same clothes after all these years!

What do you want from them? Electronic clap samples? Rapping?

 

Just listening to my original vinyl pressing of Howl, gotta say this is one of my favourites of theirs.

My Wife is the bigger fan of BRMC and I remember when this came out, I was still working for Fopp in Leamington Spa where we used to live, this was a genuine Fopp and not one of these HMV owned ones around now.

It was really cool working in a Indie having worked for a big chain like Virgin, we got to listen to quite a wide variety of music as well as the new releases.

We did play this quite a bit and it really grew on me pretty quick so I sprung for the vinly and took it home to my Wife all excited to introduce her to the new album from one of her favourites and she was not impressed.

Granted over time she's really grown to like it but said at the time it was so different from the previous 2 albums she wasn't ready for it. Myself I knew them from their debut but wasn't really a fan when Howl came out and it turned me onto them.

I used to find I didn't just jump on a band when the press went berserk, in fact if the NME were championing a band it could almost be a turn off for me, they used to slate a lot of the bands I like and still do. The White Stripes were a band I wasn't playing ball with and it took actually the Raconteurs debut to turn me onto Mr White and now I'm a fully fledged fan of all things JW, though back when WBC was released I just didn't get it, even when Elephant came out I wasn't having it, now I love those albums. The BRMC debut I really like now was a similar situation.

Now we've seen them 4 times live since the TDT tour most recently last October in Leeds where we live in the UK. I always love it when they stick a Howl track in the set.

My Wife seems apprehensive about Wrong Creautres although she admits that it was the same with TDT & TSATF and now she really likes those albums now.

Any more news on the 2nd album materalising on vinyl, I know someone said in this thread a set was coming out but I can't find anything on the net about this?

 

Your acronyms are a bit confusing, I suppose you mean "Beat The Devil's Tattoo" (BTDT) and "Specter At The Feast" (SATF)?

That was me btw with the "Take Them On" reissue, various sites - JPC for instance - have it listed with a mid-February release.


"Howl"'s orginal Echo pressing is fantastic and used to command big bucks before the reissue. But the only original BRMC vinyl I sold was the debut, the original 2001 pressing wasn't especially great. The Music On Vinyl reissue is much better, still I wish the band would give it a double vinyl reissue with the album itself stretched across four sides. Unlike the MOV which is a double album but has bonus tracks and an etching on the third and fourth side.

 

Yeah sorry about the acromyns that is what I meant, Our debut is the MOV as well. I did have the debut original but it got sold. It is a surprise that they haven't reissued the debut themselves rather than MOV, I guess rights play into this.

Yeah it did strike me playing our copy of "Howl how good it sounded, my sound has improved greatly on my RP3 since I upgraded my stylus to the Audio Technica VM530EN and Howl sounded better than ever,

 

I guess there was some hassle about the MOV "B.R.M.C" not being released with the band's consent but obviously Virgin can licence an album to whoever pays for it. Plus: An "unauthorised" - yet official and 100% legal - reissue is still better than a counterfeit.

But apparently the band got the rights back because the "Take Them On" reissue comes out on Cobraside. So it's probably only a matter of time until they are reissuing the debut as double disc.

 

I've gotten to see BJM a couple times, and I thought they were good. I never saw one of the shambolic shows.

Thing is, Anton Newcombe, the leader and writer behind BJM, has really made some outstanding stuff, put out a ton of records and never has once compromised his vision over like 25 years or more. That's got to count for something. I admire the dude and his work, he's written some great songs and is still going strong.

For anyone that thinks they're too "drone-y" or whatever, I would recommend the three LP's that majorly got me into them: Strung Out In Heaven, Take It From The Man, and ..And This Is Our Music. Great stuff on those, much more straight-forward rock.

I remember paying to download that when it came out, and I don't think I even listened to the whole thing. Not even sure where the files are now, probably on some old computer.

 

I think I've told this elsewhere on this forum, but my favorite Anton story ever was watching them play at Lollapalooza one year, with BJM playing directly across the park from Dashboard Confessional. Between BJM songs, Anton would keep going into hilarious profanity-laced tirades against him. "Someone shut that whining f*****g emo baby the f*** up!".

 

Just played "Baby 81" and liked it better than I did in 2007. Coming after "Howl" it's a return and farewell to their classic vintage sound. There's so much fantastic stuff on here, "American X" was - then - their longest song and now seems like a preview of what was to come. Once Nick was gone for good and Leah and her more tribal, ritual drumming arrived, BRMC would allow themselves to stretch out, loosen up the song structures.

Too bad the vinyl version never came out the way Robert told me in
our 2007 interview. Back then he imagined a "Led Zeppelin III" style spinning wheel in the upper right front where the girl's face and psychedelic patterns are. Instead we got an alternate white sleeve with an embossed guitar.