Taking their name from Marlon Brando's biker gang in The Wild One, it's a fair guess that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club like to think of themselves as rebels of the most dangerous kind. And as their lumbering, sullen rock songs demonstrate, the San Franciscan trio are certainly not short of self-righteous anger. What's not at all clear, however, is exactly what they're rebelling against. The band are reportedly sick of accusations that they're a rip-off of the Jesus and Mary Chain, but it seems a fair enough cop - except that the Chain had some sort of agenda, whereas BRMC seem to believe in little more than wearing black and looking tough. Taken in small doses, their frantic riffing and doom-laden energy is undeniably quite entertaining. Over the course of an entire album, it gets more than a little bit tiresome.
