Black Rebel Motorcycle Club |
Fri. May 04.2001 8:34 PM EDT |
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Hit The HighwaySan Francisco band brings 'new Americana' sound to the masses. by Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen |
|
|
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — What do you do when Noel Gallagher calls you his favorite band? If you're Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, you just laugh. "Especially because he got the name wrong," said guitarist/bassist/vocalist Robert
The San Francisco three-piece, whose name actually shortens to B.R.M.C., has a psychedelic sound of the kind that not many U.S. bands make anymore — distortion and feedback wrapped around haunting melodies and lyrics that express hope as often as they do rage. Take "Red Eyes and Tears," the second track on the album, which came out April 3. Bandmate Peter Hayes sounds almost sinister as he sings "Red eyes and tears/ No more for you my love, I fear," over Turner's menacing bassline and his own slashing guitar. But a closer listen reveals a song about the beginning of a new relationship, not the end. Sitting in the Cactus Club, one of the hippest little venues in the Midwest, before the fifth show of the band's tour, Turner said the band tries to capture emotional extremes in their music, sometimes all during one song. "In life, there are always two sides," he said. "That was really something we tried to get across, to create a balance. We're not showing everyone only one side of the story." Playing in front of a small but rapt audience, the band doesn't just recreate its lush sound onstage; they kick it up a notch both sonically and emotionally. Trading lead vocals back and forth, Turner and Hayes are dark, dreamy frontmen, while drummer Nick Jago pounds the skins with both aggression and nuance. Between the punk rock assault of "Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll," the garage band swagger of "Spread Your Love" and the soaring, ethereal "Awake," B.R.M.C. hearkens back not just to British bands like the Stone Roses and My Bloody Valentine but also to original psychedelic rockers like the 13th Floor Elevators. Turner calls the group's sound "new Americana," a mix of U.S. and British influences that ultimately sounds like nothing else but itself. Their road from a Bay area cult following to international success — they've toured with both the Dandy Warhols and the Waterboys — might seem like a short one, but Turner and Hayes have been playing together on and off for eight years. The British-born Jago joined the band in 1997 when he answered a newspaper ad Turner had placed. When Turner and the drummer first got together, things didn't gel, but when the three of them hooked up, their musical connection became immediately apparent. "It's kind of an unspoken thing, because we don't speak a lot," Hayes said, laughing. "Not even to ourselves," Turner whispered. Jago just sat and nodded. "We kind of all do our own thing, but we come together for the music," Turner added. "And hopefully, in 10 years, we'll still be sitting here together." B.R.M.C. tour dates, according to Virgin Records:
This report is from MTV News. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
 |
 |
Receive Free Music News Daily Via Email |
|
Receive Free Artist Updates Via Email for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club |
|
All news for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club |
|
Breaking Music News |
 |
Add VH1 News to My Yahoo |
|
