Rock and roll is back! (Take Them On On Your Own - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club)

Member Name: pipefish

Product:	Take Them On On Your Own - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Date:	30/11/03 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Much more focussed than last album, hardly any weak tracks, distinctive dark distorted sound

Disadvantages: takes a few listens

It's coming up to christmas so the record companies are in overdrive trying to put out as much material as possible. Anyone remotely established in the business has a 'greatest hits' out, Fame Academy Idol Person is releasing a slew of albums with two new songs and murdering several classics, and record companies executives are busy with their shovels at graveyards digging up the decomposed bodies of murdered rap stars and taking them back to their laboratories for electro-shock therapy in an attempt to get another album's worth of material out of them. There is good material out there, but it's getting harder to find it out of the chart stuff and compilations being marketed as aggressively as a David Beckham book or football on TV.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's second album has been out for a few months now. I very much liked their first album BRMC with the rock and roll sound, dirty and distorted guitars and soaring melodies suddenly kicking in adding huge amounts of depth and layers to the music, almost gothic vocals in parts, giving them an identity from normal plodding indie music. However some of the songs were a bit weak and lacking energy or focus.
It's only now that I got round to listening to it a few times and now it is on my stereo regularly.

Initially the band got caught up in the wave of indie music after the sucess of The Strokes and are also darlings of NME magazine, but don't let that put you off.
BRMC have said before this album that they wanted to put some more energy into this album and it shows in the material - all of the material does not disappoint or slow down at any point.

To go through the tracks:

Stop
The opener and the one that got the airplay brings back the sound with a chugging baseline, great chorus and the dark loud guitars throughout reminiscent of The Jesus and Mary Chain. The song suddenly seems to take on a huge amount of layers and dimension whe
n the chorus and extra accompaniment kicks in. However this is all kept tight so it makes a great indie / rock song.

Six Barrel Shotgun
Straight after the excellent first track comes this rock and roll song with its raucous guitar harmony bursting with energy. This will remind you of Whatever Happened to My Rock And Roll from the first album.

We're All in Love
More rock and roll with strong guitar riffs sounding Stones influenced this is again slick, getting straight into the main song.

In Like the Rose
One of the best tracks on the album, builds up with pulsing guitar (or is it synthesiser?) and distorted guitar white noise with initially gothic-sounding vocals in harmony suddenly jumps into the main part with extra layers of music for the 'I'm on a wire' chorus and bridge with full on heavy and distorted sound making it sound epic.

Ha Ha High Babe
A slower number with a slow growling guitar in the background plus lots of drums and cymbals, builds up slowly repeating the verse 'You're higher baby but can't keep it on the ground'. I thought this sounded more like an interlude between tracks.

Generation
Again a great rock and roll song having a go at public apathy - lines 'I don't feel at home in this generation', 'I'm choosing sides - I'm keeping up with you and your invasion eyes', and 'you're ready to take them on' firmly stamp the intent of this but avoid political sloganeering or angry ranting. The guitar riffs and vocals keep this moving fast.

Shade of Blue
The main guitar sound from this could have come from Joy Division or darkest Jesus and Mary Chain songs. Like several of the other songs (And I'm Aching, Rise or Fall) this sounds like much more personal lyrics to it.

US Government
A swipe at government corruption with strongly distorted vocals and guitars and pounding drums with a pun
k tinge to it.

Suddenly
Souring sound reminds you of 'Too Real' on the last album for this one with a strong minor melody to it with a more epic sound in the chorus.

Going Under
'Nobody Cares what you Look Like, nobody cares what you say'. This is again tight guitar riffs and bar-room rock and roll (shouts of Come On and a few whoops) and moves along and builds up without running out of steam.

Heart and Soul
6 minute finale and one of the stand-out tracks along with Stop and In Like the Rose. This keeps going incessantly with fast drums and guitars all through again with a great tune and main riff sounding like early Verve or Ride but updated with more recent influences - the melody could have been from Oasis's best stuff but it sounds nothing like lethargic shoe-gazing music.

So overall a great album, bringing back rock and roll music with plenty of intensity and energy all through. I like it more than their last album for this reason - possibly with the exception of High Babe there are not any weak songs on this and would all probably bring the house down played live. Also the songs seem less overblown than some of the excesses of the last album, they have kept the best parts of their sound but more rock and roll influence, dynamics and agression than last time and you can hear a lot more influences on the songs.
This is the sort of album that takes a few listens to enjoy it fully but then gets better and better and it sounds miles away than most of other stuff coming out at the moment. You won't be disappointed!

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