There are a lot of people from Essex who aren’t chavs, and Blah Blah Blah are a fine example. In their current state as a two-piece Blah Blah Blah are Loughton’s answer to Nizlopi. Anti-chav, and anti-indie disco. But then they’re such nice guys, they probably aren’t anti-anything.
Discovering great new music (of the refreshing and genuinely good kind) is usually a happy accident these days, rather than having someone ranting on about it. So forgive us for stopping to rant about it here. They’re the very same reasons that people urged us to check out these guys who come with the memorable name of Blah Blah Blah.
“You have to listen to these guys, they’re brilliant” we were told, followed by excited cobbled together descriptions, trying to articulate exactly why Blah Blah Blah are so ‘brilliant’. The tunes on the Blah Blah Blah website immediately strike as both catchy and clever, served up with the charming irreverence of a schoolboy street poet. At a Blah Blah Blah gig, this attitude comes through even more, and people who’ve actually come out to see someone else are instantly won over by their originality.
The beginnings of Blah Blah Blah can be traced back to the summer of 2002, when Jay started writing some songs while he was still at school. He met Chris who was doing the sound at a pub gig he was at, and then there were two. They are currently between drummers, but can still hold their own as one of the hardest working new duos we’ve seen in a while (see their website for a staggering list of gigs), and are a hard act to follow. The name Blah Blah Blah was chosen in the knowledge that it has the tendency to crop up in conversation a lot, when you find yourself rambling and end the sentence with "..blah blah blah." Just like we just did there.
So, how to describe Blah Blah Blah? Well, Jay has a few good examples of how they’ve been summed up so far –
"Imagine Little Richard formed a beat combo with two of the Monkees, raised them on a diet of Chas n Dave and the Sweeney, and named it Blah Blah Blah."
Someone called the acoustic stuff "twisted nursery rhymes." And a man at the Brixton Telegraph said "not bad for a paki." Jay elaborates on that last rather enlightened comment:
“Yeah, it happens less often these days as it used to a few years ago, I've always found it quite amusing. However, very recently, some bloke did say that at Brixton Telegraph, as well as other utterances questioning my sexuality. However, it was reported that for all the initial offence he took,he settled into enjoying us, and these are the most important audience members.”
We first caught Blah Blah Blah at the Good Ship in Kilburn, at a new club night called Anti-Heroes. Their clever upbeat sound, and songs covering subjects like crap boyfriends, indie discos, stabbings, being jobless and cats with AIDS left us impressed, amused and a little curious. Anyone who saw Blah Blah Blah decked out in tweed jackets and smart shoes, Jay strumming a ukulele with his Little Richard hair and slightly mad grin singing “Smile, though your girlfriend is faking…” knew they were in the presence of something special.
It could be the Blah Blah Blah version of Charlie Chaplin’s classic Smile, and it made us wanna break out into a Charleston if only we knew how. Toe-tapping, tuneful sarcasm at its best. There are many reasons why people say Blah Blah Blah are brilliant, so here are just a few:
A sense of humour – demonstrated in lyrics that are both clever and brash, like "One glass of Rose, one Ferrero Rocher. Oh my love, even I know that’s not class."
An overall ability to look good in tweed.
A guy with big hair and a guitar balanced out by a little guy playing a double bass.
An old world charm for jaded indie kids, with more than a hint of an Essex accent.
Our Mum would like Blah Blah Blah because of their sunny harmonies, and whistling on songs like Hopeless and Lazy, though she might be a bit disturbed when Jay starts bawling "Now my friend is a corpse!" later in the set.
So that’s it. Don’t take our word for it, though – go out and make your own mind up about Blah Blah Blah. Then come back and tell us we were right.
Listen to Blah Blah Blah tunes at the Blah Blah Blah MySpace page
[story by Dedee W]
Jay says
http://www.starsareblind.com interesting