Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Specter At The Feast

BRMC built their name on sharp blues-rock stompers that were big on hooks and less keen on legible vocals. But as great as Whatever Happened To My Rock N’ Roll? might sound at 2am, remind yourself it was released more than a decade ago. Since then, the San Franciscans have dabbled in stripped back blues and instrumental albums with diminishing levels of success.

Yet they still retain a sizable following, and fans will likely find something to enjoy on Specter At The Feast; the brooding mid-tempo stomp of Fire Walker hints at a still-burning passion, although the dripping gospel sludge of Returning leaves a bad taste. But chief among any criticism is that, at just shy of an hour, Specter... is simply too meandering to command the listener's focus, leaving a dense collection of slow-jams that might have benefitted from a little brevity. [Chris McCall]