Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Baby 81 by: Dean Van Nguyen Mon:04-Jun-07 Label: RCA Year: 2007 WB rating 68 out of 100

If legendary Bluesman Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil for his musical genius all those years ago, what price did Black Rebel Motorcycle Club pay to pull themselves back from the brink of extinction? Initially hailed as one of the brightest lights of the “New Rock Revolution”, their debut album B.R.M.C. was an energetic and absorbing collection of rockers, filled with swagger and self assurance. The group, however, soon collapsed under internal battles, label conflicts and a panned sophomore album, Take Them On, On Your Own.

Rather than sell their souls then, perhaps they were saved, and salvation came in the form of third album Howl, a cleansing collection of acoustic tracks that drew inspiration from the likes of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. With song titles like ‘Devil’s Waitin’’, ‘Restless Sinner’ and ‘Sympathetic Noose’, the band have certainly visited the Cash school of self-mythology, right down to their obsession with everything black - their dress sense, their album covers. Taking more than a few pages out of Cash’s book, they have also leaned towards the darker side of the blues. In fact the group can be seen as direct descendants of Johnson. They draw inspiration from the same sources as all the great bluesmen; women are not to be trusted, vices are to be embraced, and music is an escape. Rock ‘n’ Roll will get you from each dusty, one horse town to the next, but it might cost you your soul.

It’s clear from the first few seconds of opener ‘Took Out A Loan’ that the band have left behind the acoustic sound of Howl, and returned to their dirty, blues-rock roots. The opening lines “I took out a loan for my empty heart, babe/I took out a loan for my patient soul” says it all. This is a band who long since should have dissolved (drummer Nick Jago was not present during the Howl sessions), setting themselves on borrowed time, eager to prove they are still capable of returning to past glories, and occasionally doing so. Their recipe has always been rectifying classic elements of bygone eras in the same manner as Oasis and The Strokes, but with their own individual spin. A solid wall of fuzzed-up guitar, beefy riffs and Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been’s wailing vocals build a concrete base for a rock ‘n’ roll song.

The highlights generally come in the album’s first half. First single ‘Weapon of Choice’ rockets along with the same energy as their previous hit ‘Whatever Happened to My Rock ‘n’ Roll’, albeit trading the song’s electric engine for an acoustic one. The opening piano chords to ‘Windows’ are instantly reminiscent of The Kinks’ ‘Sunny Afternoon’, but the familiarity soon gives way to the band’s trademark bread ‘n’ butter rock rhythms. Originality has never been a word one could use to describe the group, but to be fair, they’re rarely predictable. In the past they have dabbled in psychedelic, progressive rock, shoegazing and, most recently, they displayed a talent for folk. ‘Windows’ represents a new level of maturity in their songwriting. More surprises come in the form of closer ‘Am I Only’. In contrasts to the group’s usual swagger, it’s a tender acoustic ballad which exposes their more vulnerable side. That is until half way through when Jago’s earthmoving drums take over.

It may be album number four, but Baby 81 feels like the natural successor to B.R.M.C. The production is slightly cleaner and the song writing is more melodic. And although on a song-by-song basis it’s not quite as strong as B.R.M.C. or even Howl, it’s nice having Black Rebel Motorcycle Club around. Someone to provide the Ipod generation with a little of that mysticism that was once as essential to rock ‘n’ roll as the electric guitar itself.