Black Rebel Motorcycle Club play guitar music and leave the experimenting to other bands.

This new album is pretty standard BRMC, but more sure of itself than recent efforts. From the stomping title track through to its epic ten minute, stoner rock Half-State, Beat the Devil’s Tattoo travels through a variety of American sounds. From backwater blues to New York protopunk it tells gritty stories of love, self-destruction and redemption.

The big drums and heavy fuzz of Conscience Killer and Aya take it back to Whatever Happened to My Rock n Roll days. New drummer Leah Shapiro (from Denmark’s The Raveonettes) is a strong presence. She brings a tightness to the music, not just in her playing, but also in knowing when not to play.

The sneering War Machine, and the softer, bluesy The Toll bring some anger and some sadness respectively. Though there are a few flat moments. Shadow’s Keeper sounds like a lazy Oasis, and I don’t know that the piano-based Long Way Down really works. Apparently Black Rebel Motorcycle Club recorded twenty-three songs for this album. Perhaps one of the ten that didn’t make the cut might have been a better fit.

In the end Beat the Devil’s Tattoo has a sound that’s heard everywhere. A little bit Oasis, a little bit Brian Jonestown Massacre, a little bit Reverend and the Makers. But definitely BRMC. They own this sound. It’s a return to form.