Everything about Black Rebel Motorcycle Club totally explained
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC for short) is an
American garage rock band from
San Francisco,
California, now based in
Los Angeles. BRMC is known for its brand of
garage rock,
blues,
folk revival,
neo-psychedelia and often religiously inspired lyrics, and its influences are groups and musicians such as Matthew Hilferty,
The Brian Jonestown Massacre,
The Rolling Stones,
John Lennon,
The Velvet Underground and
The Jesus and Mary Chain.
History
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club formed in 1998, taking its name from
Marlon Brando's motorcycle gang in the 1953 film
The Wild One.
The band's first two records were indebted to classic hard rock influenced by
Led Zeppelin and also encompassed slower paced
psychedelic rock and
space rock influences from bands such as
The Verve and
The Jesus And Mary Chain. Recently, with their fourth record
Baby 81, they developed a more concrete sound and style; encompassing
blues,
folk, and
rock, while remaining angst-ridden in theme.
The vocals are shared between Robert Levon Been (Bass) and Peter Hayes (guitar). Been and Hayes met at high school in the San Francisco suburb of
Lafayette and quickly formed a band, Hayes having recently left
The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Looking for a drummer, they met Nick Jago, from
Devon,
England, who had moved to California to be with his parents after spending some time at Winchester School of Art, where he was studying fine art. Been used the pseudonym 'Robert Turner' on the first two records, in an attempt to not be linked to his famous father (
Michael Been of
The Call.) He later dropped this identity when promoting
Howl.
The band was originally called The Elements, but after discovering that another band had the same name, it changed the name to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Their second album
Take Them On, On Your Own has several songs such as "Generation" and "US Government" that are critical of the United States government.
After conflict with the label, the band was dropped by
Virgin Records in 2004, with Nick Jago leaving the band at the end of their summer tour of the same year due to 'internal conflict' (later revealed to be a drug addiction and drinking problem). He was briefly replaced by
The Verve drummer
Peter Salisbury. Hayes and Been then recorded their third album.
In 2005 the band signed to Echo in the UK, and RCA in the U.S. Their third album
Howl was released to widespread critical acclaim. Several of the songs on
Howl are said to have been written long before the idea of BRMC was conceived. Jago returned after most of the album was recorded but plays on track 7, "Promise". On tour for this album the band also employed a temporary fourth member, guitarist
Spike Keating, on stage during performances.
Possible influences of the band include the beat poet generation, notably of the Denver scene, and particularly in
Allen Ginsberg. This is evident in the title of their third album:
Howl is the name of Ginsberg's most celebrated work.
The band's fourth album,
Baby 81, was released on
April 30,
2007 in the UK and Europe and
May 1,
2007 in the U.S.. The band has posted several songs of
Baby 81 album on their
MySpace page.
On
June 6,
2007, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club performed in a concert that was streamed live via
MSN Music
.
Members
Line-up changes during Howl
During 2005,
Nick Jago was estranged from the band, reportedly due to his drug problems that had become apparent, firstly when he accepted an
NME Award in 2003 and remained on stage for a full nine minutes completely silent, and a year later at the 2004 V Festival where he notoriously walked out when asked to sign an inflatable penis. Things reached a head in Scotland when after a tense gig, Jago and Hayes came to blows, resulting in Jago walking out. As such, Jago didn't join when the band started the
Howl sessions, instead, he went through various rehab attempts, eventually rejoining the band in time to record one track on
Howl, a ballad called "Promise". It is thought that the lack of Jago's presence, and the encompassing drug problems the band had faced, were part of the reason
Howl became a stripped down American folk record, and departed so much from the traditional B.R.M.C. sound.
Discography
Albums
B.R.M.C. (2001) UK #25
Take Them On, On Your Own (2003) US #47, UK #3, AUS #34
Howl (2005) US #90, UK #14, AUS #34
Baby 81 (2007) US #46, UK #15, AUS #36
EPs
Screaming Gun EP (October 2001)
Howl Sessions EP (2005)
Napster Live Session (2007)
(2007)
Singles
| Year |
Title |
Album |
UK Singles |
| February 2001 |
"Red Eyes And Tears" |
B.R.M.C. |
- |
| March 2001 |
"Rifles" |
B.R.M.C. |
- |
| October 2001 |
"Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll (Punk Song)" |
B.R.M.C. |
- |
| January 2002 |
"Love Burns" |
B.R.M.C. |
37 |
| May 2002 |
"Spread Your Love" |
B.R.M.C. |
27 |
| September 2002 |
"Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll (Punk Song)" |
B.R.M.C. |
46 |
| August 2003 |
"Stop" |
Take Them On, On Your Own |
19 |
| November 2003 |
"We're All In Love" |
Take Them On, On Your Own |
45 |
| July 2005 |
"Shuffle Your Feet" |
Howl |
- |
| August 2005 |
"Ain't No Easy Way" |
Howl |
21 |
| October 2005 |
"Weight of the World" (canceled) |
Howl |
- |
| April 2007 |
"Weapon of Choice" |
Baby 81 |
35 |
| July 2007 |
"Berlin" |
Baby 81 |
89 |
Further Information
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