LUPINE HOWL
The Carnivorous Lunar Activities Of Lupine Howl
Beggars Banquet
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
B.R.M.C.
Virgin
· The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club took their name from Marlon Brando’s motorcycle gang in The Wild One.
After receiving surprise letters in the mail terminating their involvement with Jason Pierce’s Spiritualized, Sean Cook, Michael Mooney and Damon Reece regrouped as Lupine Howl and headed straight into the studio rather than queuing up for the dole.
Unleashing their debut single "Vaporizer" a few short months later, it seemed as though Pierce had made a major mistake. A slab of "White Light/White Heat" hot enough to melt your speakers, "Vaporizer" saw a manic Cook yelling some nonsense about "disco bricks," "sniffing dogs" and "a mothership on some kinda psychedelic trip." Not only one of the best debut singles in recent memory, "Vaporizer" was one of the U.K.’s finest exports in years. Then came the album.
Low on drive, the likes of "Sniff The Glue" and "The Jam That Ate Itself" are a lazy mishmash of tired ideas and rusty lyrics envied only by Kula Shaker’s "Crispian Mills" in terms of psychedelic overkill. Suddenly, a band that could have been a major player is just about as relevant as early ’90s shoegaze also-rans Chapterhouse.
The main difference between Spiritualized and Lupine Howl, is that Pierce sets out only to impress and satisfy himself, while the members of Lupine Howl try too hard to impress fields of festival-goers and end up orbiting above everyone’s head. Depending on your view of the auteur theory, Pierce’s sudden decision to fire these admittedly talented musicians was either a disastrous loss or the non-consequential move of an individualistic genius. Considering The Carnivorous Lunar Activities Of Lupine Howl, Pierce has no real reason to worry.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Courtnay Taylor-Taylor and the rest of The Dandy Warhols should be touched by the release of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s debut album, B.R.M.C. Composed of 11 tales of urban bohemia, B.R.M.C. often suffers from repetition and unspectacular retreads through territory covered better by others. "Love Burns" is a riff-happy rock explosion, and "Rifles" layers the guitars on thick and with the vocals way in the back – a catchy homage to The Jesus and Mary Chain. While B.R.M.C. isn’t earth-shattering stuff, it bodes well for something more interesting in time.
LUPINE HOWL 2/5
B.R.M.C. 3/5
MARK HAMILTON
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