This Album Is Incredible!, May 19, 2001

The reviewers who cite the influences on B.R.M.C. are absolutely correct - the band sounds like a combination of other artists and bands that came before it. So dock it for originality, if you will.

First of all, yes, this band isn't very original and relies on a lot of stuff that seems to have been done before. You could probably say that about most -- if not all -- new bands and debut albums. But, hell, you could pretty much say that for most of the reviews and articles that have been written about this band so far, too. Almost every one that I've seen (and I'm talking about in the press, not the ones here) seems to mention at least three of the following four thoughts: (1) the Jesus & Mary Chain fixation; (2) the rap-rock and boy-band marketing strategies that've been raping popular music for the past few years; (3) "Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll" as an answer to its own question; and, (4) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club sounds like the name of a metal band.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club being touted as "britpop wannabies"? Well, yes, America could use a band that rises above the cookie-cutter Blink 182/Green Day whiny, nasal vocal monotony, but now that "britpop" encompasses more folk and acoustically-aligned artists like Badly Drawn Boy, Tram or Coldplay, I don't see the necessity of accusing an American band of sounding too British ... jeezus that gets old.