Rebel Yell
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club made a name for its self via two album of propulsive, psychedelic rock for Virgin. But the sound is quite different on “Howl,” due this week as the trio’s debut release for RCA. Nearly every track features acoustic guitar, highlighted by the drumless, harmonica-flecked “Fault Line” and the rousing “Still Suspicion Holds You Tight.”
Elsewhere, the band tests out feel-good piano pop (“Promise”), dark blues (“Restless Sinner”) and Bob Dylan-style acoustic strumming (“Complicated Situation”). The album’s final song, “The Line,” includes a hidden track featuring only voice and a fuzzed-out keyboard backing.
“On the songs that do have a fuller sound, they’re more produced and layered,” bassist/vocalist Robert Turner says. “We used that setup more for our first album than the second; just having fun in the studio layering things, rather than the live electric band, throw-and-go sound.”
“When we were on Virgin, we knew this album was coming because we had it in our heads for awhile,” he continues. “We also knew our relationship with them wasn’t good enough to survive a musical directional change. It was barely holding on as it was. That’s why were persistent about parting ways. If we’d stayed, we knew we’d be recording a record that would have been saddled from the beginning, and that would have f***ed up the music.” BRMC begins a North American tour next month in San Francisco.
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