This is a band that actually had a tune simply called “U.S. Even during the Bush era, when artists were looking to the past to comment on the present, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club wrote songs that were too vague, too wishy-washy carry any real subversive power. On the other hand, their “Whadda you got?” attitude means they’ve never really engaged very closely with any particular historical moment they’ve lived through their rebellion remains general and unspecified. That hasn’t made Black Rebel Motorcycle Club any less predictable, but it does give their music some much-needed heft.
On one hand, they understand that their bundle of musical reference points and the poses they’ve been striking all mean something different at different points in time.
