Artists: CorduroyMoby

Corduroy
Downloads/Demo ***

By Nadeem F. Paracha

Aim your eyes towards one the finest Pakistani pop e-zines on the net, www.bandbaja.org. Get a load of what REALLY is happening (and … more so… SHOULD happen), in the local pop scene. Or for starters, get a download of what the e-zine suggests is the arrival of “true rock ‘n’ roll” coming from Pakistan: i.e a four-piece band called Corduroy.
At the moment the said site have put up two of the band’s recent songs (with an interview), and plans to offer two more in its next issue.
However, I being I (thank you very much), I (as usual) am one of those critics who get to hear an act’s demo tape/cd long before their official release. But mind you, ever since doing sneak previews of Aamir Zaki’s Signature, Junoon’s Talaash and Inquilaab and Vital Signs’ Hum Tum months before they were officially released, I’ve been extremely choosy (and snooty) about deciding which album to preview from the many demos and advanced copies that I receive every month.
So the point being (rather the question), why am I reviewing a demo by a little known “underground” Pakistani rock band from Islamabad? And that too of a band which prefers to sing all their songs in English (something I’ve always discouraged, especially after some of those horrendous Junoon attempts over the years). Remember the awful, awful “Lady Magic?” “No More” was no big relief either.
But there’s something about Corduroy that is making me take notice of them here and in this shape. One of them being the lyrics of their songs. Quite impressive, really. Especially in an international rock scene where nursery rhyme like material by the bands such as Limp Bizkit, P.O.D, Nickleback and all those truly irritating “nu-metal” and pseudo-grunge punks, is ooooed and ahhhhed as being “deep.”
I mean who else apart from maybe White Stripes Coldplay and Radiohead, are writing good lyrics anymore?
The 60s and the 70s was the golden age of great lyrics, and the last worthy wave in this respect came during the early ‘90s via bands like Oasis, Verve, Rage Against The Machine and Public Enemy and grunge acts such as Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.
Fine, they weren’t really quite like majestic lyricists such as Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Roger Waters/Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, Jim Morrison, The Clash, Lindsey Bukingum/Fleetwood Mac, Eagles or Bono/U2, but they were good, in fact perfect for what rock needed to revive itself from the ‘80s corporate lethargy. And original, early ‘90s grunge is where Corduroy is coming from (even though I’m sure they were hardly in their teens when grunge exploded with Nirvana’s Never Mind in 1991).
Corduroy lyrics have that dense and ironic story telling element that most early grunge acts were so fond of, especially the kind found on Pearl Jam’s excellent 1992 debut album, Ten.
Ah, the enigmatic PG. Now here is where I sense Corduroy’s main influences lie (and thrive). Lead singer, Mubasshir Noor (aka Moby), sounds a lot like Eddie Veddar (circa Ten and VS). But aren’t a lot many rock vocalists these days sounding like Veddar as well? Moby doesn’t seem to care because at least unconsciously he realizes a very interesting fact here, i.e. He is an Urdu/Punjaby speaking Pakistani who I personally believe does a better Veddar voice impression than most American Veddar sound-alikes I have heard on MTV (don’t have the patience to give an ear to their CD’s, really).
And quite unlike all Pakistani acts who have tried to crank out English tunes, Moby’s singing (if you are unaware of his ethnic, national and linguistic make up), can actually fool you into believing that he is a young old-school grunge man from the harsh, dark winters of Seattle, USA! Yes, he’s that good.
But how good really is this good in a country and scene like Pakistan? Not good. And how good is this good if Corduroy decide to test themselves out in the States or the UK? Perhaps good but never shall it be good enough. Well at least not until they decide to give it their all by laboriously playing in dingy clubs, sleeping in cramped rooms, touring constantly in a beat up van, etc., etc., etc…
Making it big there is no small matter, unless, of course, you are picked up by a cynical corporate label due to looks and dancing skills and subsequently turned into one those manufactured boy bands whose songs sound like bubble gum commercials and perfume endorsements for freckled prepubescents. If so, then may as well follow charming Pakistani legacies in this respect, such as Awaz, Fuzon or (now) for that matter, the current Junoon?
So I am not sure what Corduroy really plans to do with their music? Mid-‘90s underground acts such as Mind Riot, Coven and The Trip released English albums as well, only to disappear under the thick layers of smooth and perfumed rubble of mainstream local pop. And I would like to suggest Corduroy exactly what I once suggested the mentioned acts: Keep the compositions but change the medium of the vocals and lyrics. Junoon did it quite successfully, and recently so have Noori (even though I am convinced the later can still be far more dynamic and amplified than they were on Suno Key Hum Hain Jawan). In fact EP’s whip-lashing Irtiqa is a good case in point (minus, of course, their decision to actually puncture some very powerful songs with English/slanglish rapping bits).
Corduroy compositions are unpredictably interesting. Because just when you start to convince yourself that you can predict the structure of the whole song half way through, in shall come some of the most interesting and offbeat guitar riffs and vocal dynamics. The most potent in this context being songs like “Leeway” and “Ground Zero.” They do remind one of old Pearl Jam chestnuts like “Even flow” and “Why go home”, but I loved the offbeat interplay between the vocals and the guitarist on them, especially on “Ground Zero.” They remained unpredictable even to a jaded, heard-it-all ear like mine, and it is this kind of sonic unpredictability that can go a long way in helping a band to truly stand out from the clutter.
This, for example, is precisely why bands like Rush managed to actually survive among ‘70s heavy rock giants such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. And let me tell you the secret behind the classic status of Led-Zep’s Physical Graffiti: John Bonham’s offbeat drumming. Try playing air drums to songs like “In My Time Of Dying” and you’ll be left exhausted trying to figure out why he’s hitting the cymbals when formula dictates he should be hitting the snare (and vise versa!). The same can be said about the guitar and drums on Floyd’s Animals and especially, the ultra-cool, completely off-the-wall bass and drums interplay on Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”, “YYZ” and “Camera Eye” (all from the brilliant Moving Pictures).
To me here is where lies Corduroy’s strength. And yes, they should stay away from attempting formulaic rock ballads, such as their “Prologue.” It simply is not them. It’s hot air. An insult to all that energy and dynamism of matter like “Leeway” and “Ground Zero.” These are the two songs which best capture this band’s true potential, a potential to do with the act’s strengths that I have already discussed. If they can build upon these, and yes, couple them with a few darker and stickier undertones … well, who knows. But personally I would really like to see this sort of musicianship and vocals (and lyrics), being replicated in Urdu. Only then will I be able to decide exactly where a band like Corduroy can head.