In the past, I’ve been a staunch defender
of White and his ability to excavate elements of the past to produce something
new, but even I’m left scratching my head with this one. Critics argue that
White is now simply going through the motions, trading on the phenomenal
success of the first couple of White Stripes albums. With Boarding House Reach
being the faux-experimental mish-mash it undoubtedly is, Jack White appears
determined to merely add weight to that criticism.
Of course, there’s an obvious attempt to
present a facade of progression and creativity, and sure there’s the odd
glimpse of White doing what he used to do so well, but beyond the album opener,
‘Connected By Love’, there’s not much here to get excited about. And I use the
word “excited” liberally, with all the generosity I can muster. You know you’re
in trouble when you cite one of the most thoroughly mediocre curtain-raisers of
White's entire career as the album’s solitary highlight.
The rest is just noise. Literally. Muffled
noise, even. Half formed ideas - see ‘Abulia and Akrasia’ and the shambolic
‘Hypermisophoniac’ for the worst examples - that don’t really go anywhere. Bits
and bobs that White in his pomp, or in any other guise other than that of “solo
artist”, would surely have been forced to shelf.
It all feels very self-indulgent, highly
complacent, and it lacks any of the spark, energy, or grunt - as copyist or
derivative as it may have been - that once made Jack White’s music such a vital
proposition in the first place.
I remain a fan of his earlier work,
naturally, as a paid up member of the Jack White fan club, but Boarding House
Reach really is a monumental disappointment to these ears. Even within the
context of the steadily diminishing returns White’s solo career has offered up
over the past few years.
Boarding House Reach is the musical
equivalent of hodge podge night, and when you’ve got house full of notoriously
picky eaters, woe behold the chef who serves up anything as half baked as this.
Pass the gravy.
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