- Record Label: Abstract Dragon/Vagrant
- Release Date: Mar 9, 2010
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With an overall sound that seems inspired by a searing mix of old-timey blues mixed with a hypodermic blast of melodic noise, there is a driving, wild-eyed intensity to many of the tracks on Beat the Devil's Tattoo.
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It's an album that largely triumphs with a black snake moan and the revitalised, tempestuous twin snarl of Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been.
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Acoustic ballads, space-rock forays, and splashes of glam bubble up before it’s all over, while a pervasive darkness holds the album together. Happily, it seems BRMC’s odyssey continues.
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If there were ever a reason for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's existence, this would be it, and despite the false dawns of albums past, Beat The Devil's Tattoo can hold its head high as their most compulsive body of work to date.
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Sixth studio outing Beat the Devil's Tattoo is already getting billed as the one that brings all these prodigal sons' (and daughters'-- ex-Raveonette Leah Shapiro is now on drums) stylistic detours back home. It kind of is, but if BRMC's sound has cohered, their songwriting has unfortunately done the opposite.
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Devil's Tattoo is unremittingly grim, and undeniably fun. Few bands wear their frowns so well.
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At its finest, the album serves as the ideal soundtrack for a fleet of lonely, grizzled bikers lost on a desert highway: slow-rolling and hardened, simultaneously seething, brooding, and wistful, and armed with the pride of vagrancy.
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Sometimes, as on the Velvets-y vacuum of "Evol," the trio merely imitate instead of inhabit. But those moments are redeemed by many others that prove original thoughts aren't always necessary for a gritty good time.
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Alternative PressMostly, the band have improved their songcraft and melodies, as evident in the positively infectious album highlight "Bad Blood." [Apr 2010, p.122]
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They may have quenched their thirst for charging rock, but it’s their mellower songs that stand out.
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UncutIt's unlikely comfort is their aim, but that's the effect oif this over-familiar blend of woozy disaffection and slow-burning sensuality. [Apr 2010, p.83]
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Every single one of the lyrics is either a really, really lame Spacemen Zero drug innuendo (the – hey! – 10-minute epic ‘’Half-State’), about ‘twisted’ love (the – hey! – ‘stripped down’ ‘Sweet Feeling’s Gone’) or mentions “highways”.
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It’s their most consistent outing since their debut, but it’s never much better than average. BRMC is a decent rock band, and if all we expect from them is fuzzed out garage jams they don’t disappoint.
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Under The Radar"Howl" prepared BRMC fans for the deeper blues foray Beat has fullly entered. [Winter 2010, p.62]
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Beat the Devil’s Tattoo finds a balance in grimy blues licks (“War Machine”), catchy hooks (“Bad Blood”) and some huge, slabs of rock (“Aya”).
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It’s no leap forward, but surely no step backward either.
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The result is a collection rich in fan favorites, but lacking in momentum.
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Q MagazineBeat the Devil's Tattoo finds BRMC edging ever further toward parody. [Apr 2010, p.109]