Black Rebel Motorcycle Club rarely surprise you, but they are effective. Ever since breaking through over a decade ago with “Whatever Happened To My Rock n’ Roll?”, they’ve been kind of answering that question with their garage-road psych that might be inspired by better bands, but is still delivered well. Sure, there have been some detours, like 2005 acoustic album Howl (done while original drummer Nick Jago was in rehab), or 2008’s instrumental digital release, The Effects of 333. But mostly BRMC has stuck with what got them here, and it’s worked these now-verging-on-many years – including with Specter At the Feast.
Note that the band does surprise at the start & end of Specter, with low-key instrumental haunts as intro & outro to the record. Yet when the vocals are in play, the group’s sound reliably veers between the white lines of garage-road and garage-psych (though with better recording quality than today’s lo-fi garage acts). BRMC are best when they put forth real energy, such as on “Let the Day Begin”, “Rival”, or “Funny Games”, whereas other rock numbers like “Hate the Taste” and “Teenage Disease” feel kind of expected at this point in the band’s career. There are some stabs outside the act’s comfort zone, though the biggest, the airy echo-reverb “Sometimes the Light”, just isn’t what you’re looking for from BRMC. Better is when they just try for sadness & expanse, like on “Returning” and closer “Lose Yourself”.
While most of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s influences are long since gone, and many of their rock contemporaries have broken up or at least gone on major ‘hiatuses’, BRMC has never gotten off their road or off their route. And they still keep impressively plugging away.
