Intelligent Music Project – Intention
It’s a bit of a bad start to a review that even writing the title of the group and the song puts you in a vile mood. “Intelligent Music Project” is a bit … no, a lot of a wanky name for a group – almost sneering down that other music projects are stupid and dumb for existing. But this is the kind of thing that Bulgaria has been known for in recent Contests: the mistaken belief people must trust in “the process”, and the band would use alchemy to turn their base metal into a winning formula.
The last Bulgarian project ended up in 18th place and a led to a step back from the Contest.
In the intervening little while, BNT has totally disassembled the team that got them a second place and replaced them with, so I understand, insiders with a lot of money to throw around to dictate the direction of the delegation and the song itself. It’s no wonder, then, that this is another example of money not buying you the Contest.
In a year where everyone had the presumption that whatever won last year would have a thousand and one clones this year, sure enough we got our first cab off that particular rank. Instead of rocking up, and yes that is a play on words, in the musical equivalent of a BMW, this lot seeming went to Dodgy Geezers R Us round the back of the bins and got into their 1985 Lada Riva.
The song is not trying to be a pastiche of the 80s rock scene – or at least I don’t think it is – but that’s the vibe I get. They are all long hair and leather and have a set of very dubious lyrics littering this song which makes me sit here imploring: “oh God no, no more…”
There are elements of a good song, specifically the fact it finishes in just under three minutes … and Europe will have given up listening far before that point. Not because it’s awful (that’s just a happy accident), but because it’s a rock song that isn’t really trying to be a rock song (unlike The Rasmus to come up later in this set of reviews). Or is it so intelligently a pastiche that I’m not clever enough to see?
Or is it just a pile of old toss?
Lets go with that.
Phil’s score – 2 points