Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have got the blending of “old-meets-new”, blues/garage rock influences down to a science by now.
So it’s tempting to go into their seventh studio album not really expecting anything more than the same blues/grunge/noise/folk smoothie they’ve been putting out for the last decade; that very same smoothie that only sounds fresh to a pre-Band Of Horses and Luminiers generation. But damned if BRMC don’t find a way to push their sound into a new direction by introducing some studio experiments with ambience to the mix; complete with multi-layered sonic textures and a echoey guitar drone that draws more than a few comparisons to The Edge.
In fact, an awful lot of the “new” sounds BRMC bring to their latest outing sound an awful lot like lifted throw-aways from Unforgettable Fire era U2; right down to the arena rock trappings, the room filling tones, and the dead ringer Bono impression on the vocals. But whether the band’s aware of the U2-heavy influence or not, it plays out more like an accidental homage than a blatant rip-off. And dueling guitarists, Peter Hayes and Robert Been, do a way better job of nailing the blues then The Edge ever did.
That’s not to say BRMC have forsaken all their old troops for their sonic experiment. They find a way to marry both approaches successfully without anything sounding out of place. The transition from slow, soulful crooners like “Returning”, to rollicking foot stompers like “Hate The Taste” is almost seamless. Whether it’s grunge injected rock n’ roll rifting or beautiful, heavily textured walls of sound, Hayes and Been don’t half-ass a note.
If there is a weak point to be found, it’s in Been’s vocals, which are still pretty forgettable when their not just flat-out weak (or sounding an awful lot like Bono). Though to be fair, his voice has never done it for me, and it does work best when it’s utilized as just another instrument in the mix, like on the albums slow boil opener, “Fire Walker”. In comparison to their past works, Specter, is sonically the most creative and inspired BRMC have sounded in awhile. It’s a cohesive work that manages to successfully blend the new,with the old, with the new-old.
