Out of the darkness
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club rebounds after a few tough turns
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club knows a thing or two about sticking it out amid strife and setbacks. And it also knows those things are relative. Every good band (and likely a few bad ones too) swallows its share of the hard times that can come on the heels of good fortune. The great ones come back swinging.
In the six years since B.R.M.C. issued its terrific eponymous debut, the group's toured the world to rave reviews, been dropped by one record label (Virgin) and picked up by another (RCA), and had its drummer (Nick Jago) suddenly quit, then just as suddenly rejoin. "It has something to do with this band," says singer-bassist Robert Levon Been, calling from a tour stop in Omaha (the band visits Avalon on Tuesday). "For some reason, we have to get the [crap] kicked out of us to come out stronger on the other side. We've been through label troubles and things -- I guess lots of bands go through that -- but it just feels like we've been through a lot in a short amount of time."
On top of that, right before the Los Angeles trio went to work on its latest album, "Baby 81," Been's apartment was broken into and ransacked. All of his lyrics, poems, demo recordings, and songs-in-progress were stolen. Gone, just like that.
"It was just bad luck, but I remember feeling completely gutted -- the way you feel when you lose everything," Been recalls. "The only thing that helped me was thinking that I had lost all of my lyrics once before, a long time ago -- I didn't need them as much as I do now because no one was really asking to put our records out back then -- so I knew that it wasn't literally the end of the world."
Indeed, the release this month of "Baby 81" sounds very much like both a fresh start and a triumphant return to the darkly majestic form that made B.R.M.C. stars in the first place. The disc, which follows 2005's mostly acoustic, Americana-tinged "Howl," is all nocturnal glitter and steepled-skyline soundscapes done up in glorious chrome and crimson. Arresting, distortion-drenched workouts such as "Cold Wind," "666 Conducer," and perhaps most significantly "Took Out a Loan" are among B.R.M.C's best.
"It was pretty effortless," Been says of the rehearsals that led to Jago's return to the fold at the tail end of the "Howl" recording sessions. " 'Took Out a Loan' was the first song he played on, and that's a big reason that song led off the record. We had talked to him a few times and cleared the air, but to go all the way [to patch things up], we asked Nick to come in and play. He was amazing and we kind of all knew what was happening." So the three old friends -- Been and singer-guitarist Peter Hayes went to high school together, and the British-born Jago joined an earlier version of the group -- kept the proverbial tape rolling and lit into "666 Conducer," a stealthy Jesus and Mary Chain-esque groover prominently driven by Jago's Led Zeppelin stomp of a backbeat.
Plugging in in the same room together was, Been says, the best and most eloquent way the band members knew how to speak to one another. The music, through the turned-up sound and exchanged glances, spoke volumes. "It needed to be done that way and thank God, because I don't know how we would have talked our way through that," he says. "How do you communicate that feeling? When in doubt just follow the music, really, and it'll get you through the hardest of times."
If "Baby 81" sounds like a rebirth, that's because it is. Even the disc's title has to do with surviving disaster and holding out hope for the future: It was named after an infant admitted to a hospital after 2004's tsunami and claimed by nine mothers until it was finally returned to the infant's own family. Of course, a band's problems are nothing compared to real devastation. That said, B.R.M.C. is happy to be making music together, especially given the ups and downs of the last few years. But even longevity is relative.
"The most shocking thing I'd ever seen was when we got to open for the Stones a while ago," Been says. "Mick Jagger's sprinting from one end of this football field to the other the entire time, and he's not really even breaking a sweat. I had this strange feeling watching them that this kind of band will never happen again -- when you think about all the songs they've written, how they've toured everyone under the table, and still have as much life and light coming off of them as ever. They just blew us off the stage. It was the most humbling experience you could ever have. It made me feel like a really lazy young punk."
BITS & PIECES. Tonight Triple Thick plays the Abbey Lounge. Tomorrow The Faint is at Avalon. Sunday The Click Five play the Paradise Lounge. The Love Me Nots are at the Middle East Upstairs. Monday The Turpentine Brothers are at the Abbey Lounge. Wednesday Maroon 5 is at Axis. Cave In's Steven Brodsky is at the Lizard Lounge. The Broken West is at the Middle East Upstairs. 