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Something of a radical shift in direction from the snarling guitar hiss and attitude of their first two albums, HOWL the third long player from San Francisco's Black Rebel Motorcycle Club strips things down to acoustic guitars, harmonicas and shuffling drum beats. Replacing their early Jesus And Mary Chain/Velvet underground/Suicide fixations with a country-folk side-step more in line with Bob Dylan and Neil Young, it's not so much a change in direction as a radical shift in ideas and philosophies.
The last album, while an angry and seething indictment of the current political situation had a few standout moments - it was on the whole, a record that lacked spark and spirit, in short Black Rebel Motorcycle Club needed a major rethink in order to survive.
As HOWL proves, the best way to protest - is not to get angry and shout, but to get under the skin and infiltrate from within. It's in the gently insistent melodies of SHUFFLE YOUR FEET or the gospel soul of title track HOWL, these are songs that carry potent messages about the current political situation in the US, but are presented in a way that will creep up slowly and stealthily. The country rock slap in the face of AIN'T NO EASY WAY is perhaps this records defining moment, about an instant a pop song as you could wish for - the kind of song that overcomes you on first listen, immediately wrapping its melodic claws in your brain and leaving you powerless to resist from the moment it first hits. A potent fireball of a song, and the kind of thing to kick-start a bands career - in short, exactly what Black Rebel Motorcycle need right now.
DEVIL'S WAITIN' finds the band wearing their Woodie Guthrie influences on their sleeves, a fingerpicked acoustic guitar plays gently in the background as Peter Hayes warbles his way through a gospel flecked song that has you picturing train tracks, open countryside and sun spots. The similarly toned SUSPICION HOLDS YOU TIGHT and FAULT LINE, do much the same job - acoustic folk songs complemented by tasteful piano chords, harmonica blasts and lullaby-esque melodies. The gospel tinged piano chords of PROMISE, tilt things towards the more bombastic - a New Orleans jazz feel running through its beating heart. WEIGHT OF THE WORLD, a remnant from their earlier days - is given the stripped down treatment here, the raging guitar noise replaced by simple acoustics and an affecting vulnerability that's maybe been missing from the band in the past.
While HOWL is a brave attempt at a new direction, it is an album that suffers from too much of the same thing. As songs like GOSPEL SONG, SYMPATHETIC NOOSE and RESTLESS SINNER pass you by, there's a sense that the band have settled into a comfortable groove - gentle acoustic guitars and swooning melodies that fade into one. COMPLICATED SITUATION is a pale imitation of Bob Dylan that wears its influences a little too blatantly - that harmonica and guitar combination, verging on the edge of parody.
It's a disappointing second half to what starts out as a genuinely arresting record, by the time THE LINE shuffles into sight and closes the show - you've all but lost interest. HOWL is record that deserves your attention though and is in parts a glorious and intriguing collection of songs - that while let down by a weak second half, is enough to at least intrigue and invite debate. As musical reinvention's go, this is a success in places - but let's just hope they can find some balance between the white noise and the gentle acoustics next time around.

ORIGINATED>San Francisco, California, USA - 1999 Taking their name from the Marlon Brando starring film The Wild One, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club formed in San Francisco in 1999. The band toured relentlessly on the West Coast of America and with their brand of Jesus And Mary Chain styled rock n roll - got together a demo recording of an albums worth of material.
Signed in 2000 to Virgin records, the band toured the US with The Dandy Warhols before travelling to the UK to play a string of blistering shows amidst a whirlwind of critical acclaim and a rabid press.
The debut self titled album was released in 2001, and garnered the group more critical acclaim - as well as entering the album charts at No. 25. With celebrity fans like Noel Gallagher and Jim Reid behind them, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club played to sold out audiences and toured with Oasis.
Failing to live up to the critical or commercial success of the debut album, TAKE THEM ON, ON YOUR OWN proved a less exciting record. Angrier and more political, it was a record that nevertheless failed to ignite much of a response and despite entering the album charts at an impressive No. 3 position - it ultimately led to the band losing drummer Nick Jago and parting ways with Virgin Records amidst a torrent of angry press interviews and erratic live performances.
The ensuing years, seemingly resparked something in the Black Rebel Motorcycle club though - with their third album marking a radical departure, eschewing the fuzzed up distortion for acoustic guitars and a distinctly folk rock edge. With Nick Jago back in the band and a record deal with Echo, HOWL found the band retaining their politically angry stance, but
presenting it as more Bob Dylan than The Jesus And Mary Chain.

Mike Bond_UKmusicsearch 2005

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