Baby 81

A universe removed from the campfire boilerplate of 2005’s Howl, Baby 81– named after the missing child claimed by nine mothers in the wake of the 2004 Asian tsunami – sees Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (reunited with drummer Nick Jaggo) rediscovering their sub-Mary Chain fuzzbox growl. Kicking off in the best manner possible – with a migraine inducing salvo of stoner riffs – ‘Weapon Of Choice’ brings to mind a heavily sedated Primal Screams with guitars tuned to ear-bleed volume while ‘Love Burns’ trafficks in the classic BRMC template: growled vocals swathed in shoegaze FX. Later, there are forays into lo-rent psychedelia – ‘Not What You Wanted’ can’t decide whether it wishes to ape Sonic Youth or Syd Barrett – and even, on ‘Need Some Air’, a lurch towards art-metal. Nothing here suggests BRMC are any closer to discovering their own voice (at their most experimental they come on like a beat-box free Rapture on horse tranquilisers – hardly a trick to be reprised over an entire LP). As empty vessels go, however, Baby 81 is worth cherishing.