With Radio airways filled with garbage, finding good music is becoming a Herculean task (especially for those of us with good old dial-up, which makes downloading music like trying to force kidney stones, it is a slow and painful process). What can we do? Where is our musical refuge? It certainly doesn't sound like anything being played in the U.S. With the wave (perhaps of tidal proportions) of what my friend so aptly describes as Candy-Ass rock (New Found Glory, Bowling for Soup, The Ataris, Ritalin Kids, Sum 41, All-American Rejects [ohh how I wish they were] and so many others) America has been drowned out in a cacophony of over-produced, catchy, sappy bullshit. Where is the emotion? Great Rock and Roll is supposed to have feeling. Whether it is pain or love or plain old sex and drugs, there has to be something to connect the listener with the song. Listen to the album Layla by Derek and the Dominos, you can almost hear Eric Clapton�s heart breaking. It is high time for something with that same emotion.
There is a light amidst all the darkness, and its name is Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (which is odd because they are the light amidst the darkness and the name starts with black� sorry rambling). They are from the left coast town of San Francisco, but they sound as though they are from England. The influences from England are easy to spot in their music and it is probably a good thing they found those influences because they weren�t going to find much here. In fact England has always been a refuge for music when America loses its way. Just think back in our musical past. When folk music (which I have nothing against, but it is sad when folk is the mainstream music of all America) was dominating the charts we looked to England. We found the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, without a doubt the two best Rock and Roll bands ever. When overcome by the disco of the late 70s and the advent of hair metal and power ballads in the 80s we found U2 (okay, technically that was Ireland, maybe I should have said British Isles). When the alternative revolution was dying out in the 90s we found Oasis. Now that Candy-ass rock is taking over our airwaves in early 2000s, we should look across the Atlantic once more or at least to the music that is influenced by that great musical tradition. Hopefully we will find Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Warning: BRMC is not a band that produces catchy, sappy crap. You won�t walk away with a song stuck in your head. Instead you will be treated to an album full of great music that has emotion. The first song on the album (and one of the best) is called �Love Burns� for crying out loud. Other tracks include �Red Eyes and Tears�, �Spread your Love�, and my favorite �Whatever Happened to my Rock n� Roll?�. If you�re in the mood for some great music, this is your band. Be sure to pick up their self-titled debut album. It is a must for any fan of good music.
P.S.: Speaking of great music that isn�t catchy, be sure to check out VAST. Both of their albums are great from track 1 to the end.
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