Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo
To be honest, I was a bit afraid of what I might hear on this album. Baby 81, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club‘s previous album did not age well for me. I was excited about it in the beginning, but in fact I did not play it not even nearly as many times as the first three albums.
This time Nick Jago is really out for a while, and the Raveonettes‘ tour drummer Leah Shapiro (what a cool name) is in.
The sound is somewhere between the B-sides of Take them on, on your own and Howl. Yeah, songs like War Machine and Mama Taught Me Better would in the old days be B-sides. Which is still good, if you’re a fan like me, you probably liked those too. BRMC have always been capable of mixing great songwriting in a unique sound of distorted drone and reverb, and they still shine in seducing Evol, screaming Aya or the intimate Sweet Feeling. We also get another epic closer, Half-State, a song that is over ten minutes long, yet you hardly realize: it just shows how capable musicians the boys have become. The riffs are more diverse, layers are thicker, the beats actually louder, and it all fits the vintage feel of the cover. Hoping it will grow with time.
