Garage Rock
2007
BRMC's last record Howl was a meandering stroll down Americana lane, steeped in Johnny Cash, Johnnie Walker and regret. The merits of "Ain't no Easy Way Out" and a handful of B-Side material on the following year's Howl Sessions however expanded their audience, and for a while it seemed like their future material would lean even more heavily towards alt-folk.
Fortunately though, Baby 81 restores much of the band's original fuzztastic garage rock swagger while expanding the palette by adding more songs influenced by the stripped-down Howl material. Opener 'Took Out a Loan' kicks off with a blissfully crunchy garage-blues riff, where the thud of the drums and coarse fuzz of the bass instantly relays that this is going to be heavy. Closing out the song with a minute-long Sonic Youth-esque noise outro is the icing on the cake for what is easily one of their best songs.
The party continues on the rockers "Berlin" and "Weapon of Choice", both of which were released as singles. The latter's chorus of "I won't waste my love on a nation" riffs on the anti-war mood that was executed far more effectively on the haunting "US Government" on 2003's 'Take Them On, On Your Own. A mention should also go to "Cold Wind", another take-no-prisoners rocker radiating with piss-and-vinegar attitude.
BRMC's earlier material has, mostly erroneously, been compared to Oasis at their snottiest. 'Windows' however is the first time that parallels could be drawn with the Manchester band's penchant for acoustic Beatles-like ballads. The plinking piano keys underpinning the song creates a more mellow atmosphere that's cut short rather brusquely with an iffy guitar solo mid-song. Other songs in this vein are 'All You Do is Talk', whose Eno-esque ambient synths aren't exactly unlike the intro to U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name'. The Mellotron warble on 'Lien on Your Dreams' and the mournful 'Am I Only' add a lot of atmosphere too. The latter kicks off with semi-acoustic strumming that quietly build tension before cascading into a crash of big guitars in the chorus.
Besides that, there's 'Killing the Light' where Peter Hayes' falsetto nicely complements the song's quiet-loud-quiet dynamic, plus has a coda at the end that crackles with brutish distortion. '666 Conducer's slow, throbbing groove and faraway-sounding twangy guitar lines harken back to the stoner space-rock sound of their debut. 'American X' is a nine-minute epic of furious guitars and lyrics warning about the betrayal inherent in the American Dream. It takes a couple of listens to click, but it's well worth the time investment. Play it loud.
Overall, Baby 81 is a well-rounded record that plays to their strengths while opening the door for more mature songwriting that doesn't rely on the roar of their guitars to make an impact. For more material recorded in this era of the band, check out the American X EP that was released a few months after Baby 81.
