Reviews > Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Motorcycles, Smoke, Lust, And The Devil
By Skwerl
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The phrase ‘devil’s tattoo’ is an old one, referring to an unwavering, repetitive rhythm. To ‘beat the devil’s tattoo’ is to drum or tap a soul-destroying, insipid pattern torturing everyone in earshot. While it sounds cool out of context, it seems sort of suicidal of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to have used this phrase as the title of their newest album. In hindsight, the first listen left me feeling like the title was a little too appropriate, with subtleties lost in the grunge of wall to wall shag carpet distortion, at least beyond the first two tracks, familiar and accessible.
However, I’ve had unwavering faith in this band since 2005’s Howl, an album we’ve praised endlessly here on Antiquiet. Fortunately, that first listen was spoiled more by my own personal distractions than any flaws in the album, and as I broke it down piece by piece, it started to look more and more like the band’s best album since.
Those first two tracks are straight up Rock N’ Roll songs, and effective ones at that. A ton of bands are trying, but few are pulling it off like BRMC. The opening title track is essentially the standard Son House blues reboot, plugged in and backed by an elephant of a back beat. The idea is far from new; hell, it’s the first trick in the book. But quality lies in the execution, not the idea, and overlapping vocals are layered in by Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been with care and calculation, building up to the changes, as opposed to simply getting to them.
While the title track has folk elements that nod towards Howl, Conscience Killer is a rocker, more in line with 2007’s Baby 81. While this tone is revisted later in the album on the outstanding cut Mama Taught Me Better, the directly following track, Bad Blood, is more subdued by comparison. And this is where the album starts to veer off in an unexpected direction. Backwards, even, back to the band’s first two albums, very steadily paced, shoegazer stoner fare for the most part. This is true of the thinly veiled love song Evol, Shadow’s Keeper, and closing track Half-State. Though this is not to say that they’re boring. I mean we can get down with some stoner rock. And when the bass fudge drops out and the smoke clouds clear for a chorus, they manage to uplift.
War Machine is also representative of much of Beat The Devil’s Tattoo in that if you’re listening passively, it’s all Big Muff. Yet if you pull it into the foreground, you’ll find that it’s something we didn’t really expect from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: It’s sexy. Not that the band has ever lacked swagger, but War Machine is just drenched in lust. The Hank Williams salute Sweet Feeling contrasts starkly, as does the folk ballad The Toll. But the grooving roadhouse anthem River Styx is kindred, and the nearly six minute long slow yearning ode Aya, perhaps the album’s most pronounced track, is bathed in this same wet, hot red light.
The final word is that Beat The Devil’s Tattoo is thick, deep, and rich, and not summed up by any simple comparison to any particular previous album or influential band. It’s a long 65 minutes, with stretches of plowing distortion, and at times, you’ll really have to listen to hear more. It isn’t immediately accessible, certainly not compared to the band’s self-titled debut or Howl. But it’s ready when you are, a perfect soundtrack to a moment that we can’t force just by making you put a CD on.
- 01. Beat The Devil's Tattoo
- 02. Conscience Killer
- 03. Bad Blood
- 04. War Machine
- 05. Sweet Feeling
- 06. Evol
- 07. Mama Taught Me Better
- 08. River Styx
- 09. The Toll
- 10. Aya
- 11. Shadow's Keeper
- 12. Long Way Down
- 13. Half-State
For some reason, ‘Baby 81′ never clicked with me. Maybe I never gave it a proper chance.
This review, though, gets me all in a lather again for BRMC. Can’t wait to check it out.
Also, “quality lies in the execution, not the idea”: simple statement, but I couldn’t agree more. Cheers!
When I pressed play on this album I hadn’t realized my soul was thirsty for something until I listened to the entire thing and couldn’t start it over fast enough.
dig the new tune! i was a little disappointed when looking to check out more from the new album on their myspace that they have opted to go with the “30 second sampler” platter of songs. would you buy a car if they only let you smell the inside? fuck no, i wanna put my foot down and test drive that bitch. end result, im going to download it anyways (illegally) and make a decision on whether its worth my money after. not that i don’t expect that the album won’t be worth my $10, but what the fuck do i do with 30 seconds?
sidenote: new drummer is a total fox.
BRMC records (more so than other records) always take me about 6-7 listens before I really feel it. I am on listen 4 right now, and I am struggling. It’s good, but I just feel almost as if they have stopped trying. This is almost like BRMC after washing a handful of pain killers down with a swig of moonshine. I must declare that Aya is worth the price of admission alone. I hope when they return to LA (somewhere without Echo in the name) later this year, I get to experience it live.
best work since howl, great review as always, keep up the good work. Just seen them in Vancouver last week and they were amazing , they played 3 hours, one of the best shows i’ve seen.
I only managed 2 listens and it is too few , so far it’s very good album, but I’m still into new Jimmy Hendrix CD – it is awesome album with great groove !
speaking of new jimi hendrix, are you guys reviewing the new portugal album?
Im all kinds of pissed that my local Best Buy doesnt have this album. Now I need to wait for Amazon to ship it. Fuck my life. You turned me on to them after your praise of Howl, and now I cant get enough of them.
That’s a beautiful review man! I love how Skwerl put sounds into images, keep it up. And I love this album too. Great music from a great band.
It growed on me, awesome album love such bands , already got tickets for their show. Can’t wait.
I think that’s part of the beauty of BTDT, the fact that is requires multiple listenings to unearth it. Good on the first listen with perhaps moments that make you go ???, but unlike most albums these days this puppy clocks in at over an hour (the hell you say!) and the music is textured, the lyrics simple but not, and as usual there’s more than one direction that they go off on. Yet it’s still cohesive and rich and well sequenced.
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