Blackbird Raum and their ilk go one step farther than "folk punk". They're not just taking a traditional punk band structure and adding in acoustic guitar or stand-up bass. The electric instruments have been tossed aside in favor of mandolin, accordion, washboard & one string washtub bass. The end result is something akin to punk music that could've been played in a Hooverville back in the (first) Great Depression.
Fashion wise they look like gutterpunks, but with honest squatter wear & tear. You're less likely to find Blackbird Raum looking for a hand out on a street corner and much more likely finding them rummaging in the dirt for something to change the world with. Dirt punk?
Their mix of "folk" instrumentation and "punk" dissatisfaction is not one intended to make you feel comforted or reassured. This band is unhappy with the state of the world and refuses to sit still about it. Even the recording of "Under the Starling Host" seems calculated to express this.
The instruments on this collection are recorded crystal clear, they're almost pretty. The first track starts off slowly and invitingly... until just before the vocals kick in when the pace is picked up a bit. Then the vocals hit.
Rough. Angry. Dissatisfied. They've been had. The world should be better. The world *should* be better. The vocals propel the music in a utterly different direction than the music seems to want to take you.
The end result is an uneasy experience for some. I've had fans of "traditional" folk music be completely boggled and put off by the contrast between the music and the vocals. "Why do they have to scream and be so angry?" I've been asked. They are made ill-at-ease by Blackbird Raum, it confronts their concept as folk music as something that's safe, reassuring.
But I think that's exactly what Blackbird Raums is trying to get at: the music of the downtrodden, of the people, of "folk" shouldn't be soothing. It shouldn't be there to hold your hand and tell you everything is going to be fine. It should be startling, and putting a brick in your hand.
