[4/5] If the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are sick of being compared to the Jesus And Mary Chain, at least they're doing something about it. While the L.A.-based manic-depressives hunkered down at Robert Johnson's crossroads, blending Delta blues and gut-rot country into their apocalypse-'80s mope-pop on 2005's Howl, Baby 81 firmly roots itself in the Age of Aquarius. But forget peace and love: The closest BRMC get to letting the sunshine in is the piano-powered "Window," a Fab Four soft-rocker that smells of cellophane flowers and marmalade skies. The bulk of Baby 81 draws from the dark underbelly of the Woodstock generation, as the trio channel the dum-dum thud-rock of early Stooges on "Took Out A Loan" and mainlines the Velvet Underground circa-Loaded for "Weapon Of Choice." Just when BRMC's droning '60s fixation finally becomes a bit much, the band shift gears with "All You Do Is Talk," a strings-drenched stunner that matches U2 in the epic-grandeur sweepstakes. As notoriously misanthropic as the Jesus And Mary Chain's Jim and William Reid are, they'd be impressed. (RCA) Mike Usinger
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