Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
BRMC live at Benicassim 2007.
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, California, USA
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Garage rock revival Post-punk revival Noise Rock Shoegazing Americana
Years active	1998–present
Label(s)	Virgin, Echo, RCA/BMG
Website	www.blackrebelmotorcycleclub.com
Members
Peter Hayes Robert Levon Been Nick Jago

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^[1].

[edit] 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.

[edit] Members

• Peter Hayes – vocals, guitar, Bass, Synth
• Robert Levon Been – vocals, bass, guitar, Piano
• Nick Jago – drum kit, percussion

[edit] 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^[2]. As such, Jago did not 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.

[edit] Discography

[edit] 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

[edit] EPs

• Screaming Gun EP (October 2001)
• Howl Sessions EP (2005)
• Napster Live Session (2007)
• American X: Baby 81 Sessions EP (2007)

[edit] Singles

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

• Official website
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at MySpace
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at Discogs
• Rebels with a Cause fansite