‘Take Them On, On Your Own’ is a sensational record for many reasons. Over in the States, however, it feels like something more anti-authoritarian is starting to emerge, and nothing underlines that more than this Black Rebel Motorcycle Club album. The response from the UK’s musical community to recent world events has – bar Damon Albarn and Massive Attack‘s anti-war advertising – been muted, verging on the non-existent. At a time when the methods and motives of governments on both sides of the Atlantic are coming under closer scrutiny than ever, that becomes an even more vital function.
One of the primary functions of rock’n’roll is to act as rebel or protest music.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, though, are definitely one of them. Right now, there are a million bands out there paying lip service to the ideas of independence and freedom of expression, but you can count the number actually practising what they preach on the fingers of one hand.
