Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Wrong Creatures Album Review

Story posted January 20, 2018 in CommRadio, Arts & Entertainment by By Jack Grossman

Since their formation in 1998, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC) have been known for their by the books, but fun, contributions to the garage rock revival movement. After being dormant for five years, BRMC have emerged again with a new album that picks up right where they left off. Wrong Creatures does little to incorporate the progress music has made in those five years, struggling to achieve anything substantial beyond a fun nostalgic reminiscence of a by-gone era.

Wrong Creatures’ hour-long runtime doesn’t waste a single second in anything other than inducing a sense of nostalgia for garage rock revival. It’s clear that aesthetic direction came before the actually songwriting. That’s not to say the songs themselves aren’t well put together but they fail to stand on their own merits without leaning on genre conventions that began to sound old all the way back on BRMC’s previous album. Wrong Creatures sounds perfectly crafted to snuggly fit alongside other BRMC releases succeeds in this intention. However, after listening to it a few times, the induced feelings and sounds of old can get tiresome very quickly. Having this garage rock revival sound as the backbone of the album without any evolution in songwriting makes the album feel pointless to an extent.

The instrumentation is not the only part of Wrong Creatures that harkens back to an era of angst and turmoil that has since been loved by rock fans; lyrically, BRMC captures the feelings of the era well, emphasizing the ideas of nostalgia and angst-ridden themes. However,  BRMC is not the first nor will it be the last to touch on these subjects with a raw attitude, again leaning on nostalgia rather than actual lyrical ability.

BRMC clearly went into this album with the intention to cater to a certain niche — both fans of the band as well as fans of the garage rock revival era of alternative and independent music. There’s definitely room for artist’s to grow and evolve this sound for the modern era, just look at Ty Segall, Thee Of Sees, or King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. By banking on the genre rather than using it as inspiration to take a step forward, Wrong Creatures delivers little more than an average album. Wrong Creatures would have been a strong and beloved success during the band’s heyday 15 years ago, but it’ll difficult for anyone outside of devoted fans of the genre to return for a second listen.

If there’s one thing that Wrong Creatures succeeds in, it’s that it draws a clear line on how far you can stretch nostalgia for bankability. 2000s indie acts Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem saw success last year despite offering little more than nostalgia trips, and even though BRMC has followed the same formula here, little traction has taken hold for the album. Though it certainly won’t be the last of its kind, it’ll hopefully serve as a cautionary tale for other garage rock revival acts looking to cash out while they’re ahead if they’re not willing to keep up with the times.

Rating: 6/10

 

Jack Grossman is a sophomore majoring in telecommunications. To contact him, email jackdgrossman@gmail.com.