Friday, June 1, 2007

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB"Baby 81"RCA

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN just reunited after nearly nine years, which isn't great news for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It modeled its sound on the Chain's stately if clamorous pop-punk, yielding two albums that seemed mostly redundant (although they were well received in Britain, the Chain's home turf). After going roots-rock with 2005's "Howl," the California trio returns to its Chain-derived mode with the new "Baby 81" -- and once again sounds like junior varsity.

The band's members, singer-guitarist-bassists Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been and drummer Nick Jago, took their name from "The Wild One," a 1953 biker flick starring Marlon Brando. So it's all part of the concept when the group comes on black-leathery and sneering, skeptical of love and fascinated by death. "Suicide's easy / What happened to the revolution?" taunts "Berlin," one of three slow-boil rockers that auspiciously open the set.

Alas, the album trails off after the intriguing fourth track, "Windows," which adds piano, falsetto vocals and "I Am the Walrus"-like mumblings to the smeary churn. That's as close to a revolution as the agreeable but secondhand "Baby 81" ever gets.

-- Mark Jenkins

Appearing Saturday at the 9:30 club with the Cobbs.

Listen to an audio clip of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club