Sawaal by Aaroh

Giving the listener something new and different is one way to make an impression in the market. Yet barring a few notable exceptions, most bands that attempt to market what they think to be original styles are often deluded. For one thing, most four bar patterns thought to be original have already been written and done to death in the past. And even if one is newly introducing an Angraizi style in Urdu, doing the same thing 10 times on one album amounts to getting stuck in a rut and does not make a good or even tolerable album.

Hailing from Karachi, Aaroh comprising Farooq Ahmed (Lead Vocals), Nabeel Nihal Chishty (Lead and Rhythm Guitars), Khalid Khan (Bass Guitars) and Kamran Khan (Keyboards) seem to have missed this point with their debut album. This is a band whose ingenuity, talent and originality at the Battle of the Bands – or as it now appears in hindsight, the lack thereof – had given them amazing popularity along with the number one position in the Battle of the Bands. They had, I expected after viewing their various live performances, an ability to jam, write catchy songs, and intertwine many different musical genres. I was wrong to think that.

The artwork of the CD fails to impress me. The cover is the dullest thing I've seen in years and the 'cut and pasted' parts of the full pictures that are spread around the booklet give it a very amateur look. For all I care the band that offered me frustration would have looked far better covered in the oil that is available in excess on the coastline. The back-inlay behind the transparent tray is even worse. Or maybe the band chose this sleeve in memoriam to what has happened since the aftermath of the Tasmanian Spirit. I am deeply touched.

"Sawaal", the debut effort by Aaroh, is simply the same song being re-done time and again. Generally, most music has some bright spots, but it will be a struggle for any rock fan to distinguish the good notes on each song here. Every one of the CD's 12 songs sounds identical and if any hard rock fan stops paying attention to what is going on in the album following the third track, he or she cannot be blamed. Some credit can be given to lead vocalist Farooq for providing the vocal duties fairly well. Yet add loud guitars and the same dang pounding of sequenced drums and you have a recipe for disaster. If I were paid a ridiculous sum of money, I too could whine into a microphone about how much life sucks and how I adore the cute boy next door and I wouldn't be writing music reviews.

And this is not just a question of first adverse impressions. I have listened to this album for some time now and the sad factor is that this album fails to improve over time. Ability to play often overshadows ability to write exciting music and Aaroh fall headlong into the Mekaal Hassan / Fuzon trap. A listener in the aforementioned situation gets nothing except a lack of variety. And we demand to get our money's worth down to the last penny. Capitalism has turned music into a product. It's something we fans of music have grown to accept. Similar to the boasts of car commercials, new releases are often paraded as "album of the year" and other clichés are tossed around with increasingly predictive frequency.

One should always remain sceptical when bands use this line to sell albums because there may be a reason they're trying to make such an aggressive push for it.

The album starts off with "Sawaal". And that is precisely what you'd be left with by the end of the album. A few questions: Did the band win The Battle of the Bands because it was playing on home-ground? Did they really deserve to win? Was Entity Paradigm a lot better? Were the judges already briefed prior to the final who are supposed to be in the battle and who is supposed to be eliminated? Were the bands from Karachi given more importance? Were bands from Lahore 'not supposed' to be victorious? Did Aaroh win because they covered a Vital Signs song (guess who was in the jury?)?

It's quite distressing. I loved Aaroh since day first and fought/discussed the band with fellow critics/friends/listeners. Now with the album in hand I do not know what to say to the anti-Aaroh brigade. Alright, the title song is great, but then what does one say of the rest of the album.

One could of course have argued that since all songs on "Sawaal" sound similar you'll either love them completely or hate them for being so monotonous. To quote the band "tujh ko chaahaa hai / buss yeh gunaah hai" My ears as yet fortunately or unfortunately are not as fanatical.

"Aik Din" is 'the' weakest song on the album. Whiny vocals, same music; and the lyrics suck. "Woh sehar aik din aayay gee / Aur tu meri ho jaayay gee" being repeated over 'n' over again don't seem to make things easier but all the more irritating! Go home, Farooq (you're the one singing this crap), and cry to your mama - because I don't care about your whining and neither does anyone else.

If one were inclined to be kind to them, one could say "Dunya" is one of the best tracks the band has to offer. This is because people are actually singing and not whining as much as they are otherwise, and the track sounds completely different from the rest of the album. The acoustic guitars and the guitar solo are superb. But there is little respite or variation in the rest of the album.

"Jalan" sounds really good when it is performed live probably because the crowd is all hyped up and couldn't care less about the words sung as long as they are having fun. But when listening on one's own, the lyrics are retch-inducing. A word to the band: STOP crying dudes! The girl[s] do[es]n't want you. Maybe you disappointed her as much as you disappointed me. And stop threatening her too! ("Ya toh meri yaadon main aao naa / Ya phir meri baahon main aao naa"). Come to think of it, even the video dampens my spirit. Where did all the originality and creativity go when the band was in the process of making this album? Is the idea of Romeo/Juliet being filmed in a forest, running away from the zalim samaaj on a heavy-bike and then eventually dying ground-breaking? C'mon! Even Shehzad Roy, never a beacon of originality, has trampled this ground and been more creative and effective in doing so.

First things first: Who is this girl they can't seem to get over with? Is she good enough to waste a 'debut album' on? That's precisely what the band has done by making yet another song, "Aankhein" by getting Nabeel to do the lyrics. And who said guitarists are multi-talented? They are not! Nabeel you are good at making music, stick to it! You are not as good (not even close) as Aamir Zaki who writes fairly well. (Next thing you know Nabeel will be providing vocal duties like 'Sal the Man' did! And the listeners will be left banging their heads on a "Deewar"!)

The next song "Dil Kee Baaton Ko" proves that the weakest aspect of the entire album is the songwriting. Silly pop melody for the chorus, redundant pop/rock riffing, and not much else. The song churns out yet another mid-tempo clunky number with boring, underwritten directionless riffs and nothing even remotely resembling a good vocal line.

Be prepared to have your intelligence insulted with the two instrumentals (fillers?) available on the record. The pretentious, ridiculous strings on "Hoor" and "Zarb" do little more than to make me giggle at this crap-fest in its full-blown glory. For hilarity, visit the aaroh.com message board and watch the sheep run to say "Hoor" is a classical insturmental (notice the spelling) track which touches your soul" and "The album closes off with another insturmental (again?) track Zarb an amazing number…"

From this point on, "Aaroh" becomes an act that for me have spiralled into creative oblivion. "Sawaal" might be an important step for the band, particularly for their sponsors, but it has certainly alienated me. Admittedly this isn't the most horrible thing ever written, but it sure isn't very interesting either, and quite honestly, why would I listen to this when there is music three hundred times better out there?

Review By: Insiya Syed

First published: www.pakistanirock.com