Album Review: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Specter At The Feast

In these heady days of instant gratification, shortened attention spans and iTunes, when an album like Specter At The Feast graces the airwaves it truly is special. Records that span more than 40 minutes are a rarity in 2013, and ones that go for 59 minutes, as this latest reincarnation of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club does, are even rarer. 

BRMC, of course, are no rookies when it comes to releasing great records. 2005's Howl remains one of the pivotal moments in 21^st century rock music – when it was realised that blues-rock could be presented on acoustic guitars and still have the kids jumping in the aisles – and 2007's Baby 81 is full of killer guitar riffs. The band's presence on the still-controversial 2004 Michael Winterbottom film 9 Songs was one of the movie's highlights, and the band's live show is notoriously awesome.

So, how does Specter At The Feast fit in to BRMC's back catalogue? It sees the band return to their roots. Gone are the acoustic guitars (with the exception of the lilting Lullaby), instead replaced with the fuzzed-out psych rock that Sonic Youth and Primal Scream made famous. One potential pitfall of the psych rock band is the prevalence to come across as introverted, caught up in epic guitar solos and foldback loops. While BRMC are guilty of this at times, the punctuation of Robert Levon Been and Peter Hayes' vocals lifts Specter At The Feast to new heights, without ever alienating the listener.

From the haunting first track Fire Walker and its Twin Peaks-referencing lyrics “Fire, walk with me” to eight-minute closer Lose Yourself, Specter At The Feast once again affirms Black Rebel Motorcycle Club as a force to be reckoned with.