Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Specter At the Feast

Michael Been – father of bassist Robert Levon Been – had become something of a constant in the world of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. He produced previous effort Beat The Devil’s Tattoo and toured as their sound engineer up until his fatal heart attack following a performance at Pukkelpop three years ago. Having lost a key mentor, many wondered how BRMC would respond. Well, much of Specter At The Feast – the band’s seventh studio release – is a sombre affair, standing as both a tribute to the departed Been (a cover of his former band The Call’s 1989 hit ‘Let The Day Begin’ is an early highlight) and an attempt to steer things in a more reflective direction.

Those expecting BRMC to come racing out of the gate will likely be taken aback by ‘Fire Walker’, a darkly evocative slow-burner that brings the soundtrack to David Lynch’s gloriously batty Twin Peaks to mind. Brooding, twisted and triumphant, it sees BRMC striding forward with their guard down. Elsewhere, ‘Returning’ lays the emotion on perhaps a little too thick but is poignant nonetheless, while the sensitive ‘Lullaby’ is cut from a similar cloth.
Possibly sensing that an entire album of patient melancholy is something of a hard sell, BRMC abruptly revert to type. And so we get three fuzz-pedal-laden rock songs, ‘Hate The Taste’, ‘Rival’ and ‘Teenage Disease’, offering a hint of what a slightly edgier Beady Eye might sound like. But here they feel like a distraction, especially when the record attempts to return to its original rueful tone. Specter At The Feast sprawls somewhat – but the stirring ‘Lose Yourself’ provides a touchingly elegiac closer.