Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

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With the Virgin release of their self-titled album, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, along with the recent releases by the White Stripes and The Strokes, marks generation-Y's slow recovery from the toothache caused by the sugary pop stars and crunchy, rock-rap acts which was such an unhealthy staple of their diet for much of the late 90's.

This trio from San Francisco has taken L.A. by storm. Impressing everyone from Oasis to Neil Young. Even though they cite The Stone Roses as a major influence, they are more than a mere imitator of the modern British sound. They have reworked and Americanized it, by infusing it with a kinetic lushness that is missing from such British acts as Cold Play and the aforementioned Oasis. On the outstanding Whatever Happened to my Rock and Roll (Punk Song), Peter Hayes' fuzzy guitar effects invokes comparisons to The Jesus Mary Chain, but there is an element of psychedelica in many of the other songs such as Spread Your Love which makes you think of The Doors and the moody rock and roll of the early 1970's. There is a flickering and shadowy love affair with dark elements. The manic pulse throughout the album is more desperate clawing than the depressing longing that is found in so many British acts today. It's ironic that the band's drummer, Nick Jage is an English ex-patriot. His band might breath new life into that nation's music ... a genre so introspective that it is on the verge of collapsing in on itself under the weight of it's own self-importance. It's fortunate that he escaped it's crushing gravitational pull and found his way to our shores, where he and his American band-mates could fortify it with enough energy to serve as a healthy part of this generation's daily, musical diet.

Gobi