Back In Black

"It's weird to think of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club as veterans. From the outset, they've been discussed (and debated) as representatives of some new vanguard or another. Originally thrown in with the neo-psychedelia of acts like The Dandy Warhols and Brian Jonestown Massacre (co-founder Peter Hayes a former member of the latter), they would later be sold as garage-rock revivalists alongside The Strokes and The Vines.

Throughout, they've consistently borne the brunt of accusations leveled at any band with a nostalgic outlook. Their authenticity has been an ongoing subject of debate. Their relative youth has seen them frequently derided as derivative. Astonishingly, they've managed to stick it out amongst it all. Formed in 1998, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's career is currently enjoying its fifteenth year. Their recent album, Specter at the Feast, is their seventh.

“There's kind of a philosophy of learning from the greats, the classics, the bands that we still think are the best bands,” co-founder, bassist and vocalist Robert Been says. “We don't totally buy into whatever the new fad or sound at the time is... We're still trying to keep our roots. Still learning from those bands who still did it the best. The best so far, anyway. We're not really convinced that the latest thing is the best thing.”

“So, in some way, we're still just trying to better from those groups - and I would hope that's the good side of 'derivative',” he counters. “Of course, then there's the bad side of derivative – but I've never thought of us as stuck in any way. This record, in particular, was really important that we knew, in ourselves and for ourselves, that we were making something of worth. That happened before we even went into the studio.”

There's always been more to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club than such debates, of course. They've showcased surprising mobility throughout their catalogue. In addition to their celebrated garage-rock roots, their work has encompassed strands of shoegaze, country, gospel, psychedelia and countless other genres. 2008's The Effects of 333 was an entirely instrumental ambient release, for example.

“I don't know if I'm surprised we're still a band. I'm surprised that we're a band that's made a good amount of music that I am in no way embarrassed of,” Been says with a laugh. “I'm surprised that each record we've made, we've somehow survived it. You know, we've never had an easy album. I kind of worry about the day that we'll have an easy one, because it could effect how it comes out.

“When I think back about each album, it was kind of putting everything we had into it. There was always things we were dealing with at the time that made it all feel – every single fucking time – like it was life-or-death, all-or-nothing. Like, everything felt like that,” he says. “Maybe when you get that deep into a process – get really obsessive with something – that's how it's always going to turn out.”

They're a remarkably professional band. Not in the sense of corporate polish or branding, but in the implementation of strategic policy. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are, more than most bands, determined to make good albums. They listen to reviews, evaluate their mistakes from album to album and typically approach each release in their catalogue with a blueprint of what they hope to accomplsh.

“Well, we learn things every album. [With] certain things, we want to make a point to better from the last,” Been says. “You know, there were certain things on [2010's] Beat The Devil's Tattoo that we wanted to make sure we didn't do again. There was a kind of garagey-ness to recording the drum sounds that we tried to get. We wanted that record to feel lo-fi and, hopefully, bring a lot of feeling out of that rough, almost-punk, garage element.

“But, there were a lot of dynamics that Leah [Shapiro, drums] played with that weren't captured with that kind of recording,” he explains. “There are a lot of subtleties in what she does dynamically for the songs that, on this album, we wanted to make sure to address and remedy. There's usually something quite particular to each album that we like to work on or fix-up for the next.”

Ironically, the band threw out that approach for Specter At The Feast. The band simply followed their songs. As a result, Specter... runs the entire gamut of the band's eclectic discography. Shades of dream pop and shoegaze rub up against blasts of classic rock'n'roll and understated blues. Already, it's been hailed as one of the band's best records to date.

“Six albums, seven albums in... It can become a job. It can become a business. You can lose sight of that feeling that says: 'you have to get a fucking album out, you have to get these songs out, you have to get these words heard',” Been says. “It can be dangerous when you feel like you've got people working for you and you've got expectations that you have to deliver - you're supposed to get an album out. It's what's done.

“And, sometimes, you're not ready. That's one of the main reasons we took so long to make this album. A lot of people thought it was because of my father passing away and dealing with those issues for all of us – which were significant – but, if anything, it was more important this time that, without him there, that we all truly felt that it was important for us to come together and that this was something that was needed for all three of us.”

The album has consistently been discussed in relation to the 2010 passing of Michael Been. Robert Been's father, Michael Been had acted as a mentor for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's entire membership. He'd produced their albums and toured with them as a sound engineer. He passed away backstage at one of their performances. Still, Robert Been asserts that there's more to the album.

“It definitely affected us. It cast a shadow over the writing and recording of things. Even if we weren't writing about it directly, it was in the room with us. So, if we'd have tried to avoid talking to it, it would have been worse. But, by making it clear and telling people that, we've tried to tackle it head-on and get people to leave us alone,” Been says frankly. “So no-one thinks they're getting the scoop or figuring it out or whatever.”

“I mean, of course, it affected the album,” he says. “Personally, I think some people are reading too much into it, though. But, hey, that's going to happen, right?”