Blackbird Blackbird ‘Boracay Planet’: EP Review

 

Noodling is a good word. Possibly derived from the term “doodle”, ie, to draw absent-mindedly whilst having a telephone conversation, to “noodle” is to carry on musically without any apparent design, destination, or evolution. Normally you could go off at the start of a noodle to put the kettle on, and by the time your teabag has properly brewed and you’ve added some semi-skimmed the music is exactly where you left it. The interminable organ solos of The Doors could be described as noodling, as could the guitar “stylings” of Yngwie Malmsteen. Blackbird Blackbird’s new EP Boracay Planet doesn’t have any virtuosic skill, in fact the guitar playing is pretty poor in places, but the songs themselves are pure mid-tempo effects-laden noodle. Blissed-out atmospheric mood music to some, and certainly Blackbird Blackbird have a substantial following, all of whom will be offended by this review, but to others looking for something a bit more substantial, well…

Boracay Planet sounds like a bloke, in this case  “San Francisco-based wonderkind” (according to his last fm profile) Mikey Maramag), on his own in a studio with a drum machine, some guitars, Vini Reilly’s effects rack, and a matchbox on the back of which he’s scribbled some random phrases such as “It’s a War” and “Keep it up”.  He presses “Start” on some black box somewhere, lights a spliff and off he noodles, plucking away at his Fender and singing the phrases ad infinitum until he runs out of steam, or possibly falls asleep. The results are given some high-end studio polish and presented to the world. It’s lapped up eagerly by those who spend their evenings getting stoned on a beach in Thailand with their parents money before coming home to start their careers in law or medicine.

I’m all for blissed-out atmospheric mood music. I bought the Washed Out album which is quite good actually. What we have here though is a record for fans of the genre rather than of an artist or band, because there’s nothing distinct here, nothing unusual, intriguing, poetic or evocative. It’s just more of the same, but not as good.

 

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