‘The Big Thaw’ defrosts genre defined auditory senses

Creative liberties are tricky tricky subjective risks artists like to take every now and then. Of course if it’s a Salman Rushdie crafting plots around his visual characters its poetic. Musicians, unfortunately, are privy to a more impatient audience(so we like to think). Having said that, if the illustrious Jimi Hendrix or Van Halen earned licenses to their previously unheard of magical strums, so must Bliss Logic – Mumbai’s shamans of experimental rock. Lima Yanger’s songwriting and Lindsay D Mello’s percussive beat sensibilities met Sanjay Joseph on guitar and JD Thirumalai’s bass thump to put their years of rock and roll experience to some use. The definition called Bliss Logic was coined in 2002. After five years of jamming, boozing, smoking, spliffing and insipid inspirational studio sessions they finally cracked the glass ceiling, rather ice ceiling. The Big Thaw, a 10 track compilation of their five years together slates a journey through everything that could possibly define the band. Coherent and quirky, colloquial yet queer, culturally rock yet quaintly electronic – the collective seems to have bridged the alternative and conventional worlds blissfully.

But alliterations aside, The Big Thaw is the bands initiative to let out all their musical angst onto record. Yanger’s cohesive songwriting and experimental vocals almost seem to set the tone of the album. Their opening track – More Soft Vibes that they’ve lovingly accronymed MSV, tunes you into the flow of what is to follow. For a genre defining listener, it’s a mixed bag. Ambient pop, wholly electronic, vibrant guitar playing and harmony patterns – there is something for every average indie listener. The album has a special treat in store for guitar lovers in praticular with amongst the best guitar talent in the country featured on the tracks. Clearly their biggest pimping song, MSV’s whinny guitar solos(Paresh Kamath) thrown in to D’Mello’s loud drum sections open out to Yanger’s repetitive chant of ‘Imagery you have‘. The lasso is set. You suddenly want to hear more. There is an attempt at gospel hymn preaching without being choir in Wednesday with an insertion of words by the Mahatma himself. Dramatic, orchestration and symphonic in scale, The Big Thaw is already making for a brilliant background score while this reviewer cruisers on a nearly empty afternoon highway. Mellow keys, repetitive vocal recitations, ballad orchestrations and mocking Hans Zimmer-like background score effects thrown in amidst acidic jazz and blues cover New Message, Window and Tryin. For any reason whatsoever, whenever there is a need for that variety of rock ballad, trust a love song hovering on the horizon. Just that Everyday, is not your everyday romantic rendition. It’s not scented in pretty notes and soulful solos, but plainly sings out acoustic riffs onto keys and drum n bass in an almost 80s realm. The title track(Dhruv Ghanekar and Randolph Correia on guitars) comes in near the end of the album and that’s when the underground electronic loops and guitar supersonics really spin out of the vinyl cabinet. Defrosting senses and magical transportation. Sheera rides further with smooth opera styled chants softly woven into its surface while Ride is a stoner’s song about making love.(and we’ll even look beyond the very excusable Jenna Jameson reference) The record finally melts on Spill, which is the first track, the collective apparently wrote, and it beautifully closes the album. An amalgamation of all their styles finally dripping into a melting pot of distorted solos(Paresh Kamath back on lead guitar), heavy vocal and keys textures, drum n bass making it spill over the seeds of your own sub conscious.

The Thaw has happened. It’s raised the temperature. ‘But its so not global warming yet’.

You can sample some of these tracks over at http://www.myspace.com/blisslogic

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