Something Relevant or or ‘STR’ as they are called by most fans and indie music hounds, are one of the class acts to have walked the indian rock road with a unique, original and mature sound which does not resemble or emulate any identity except its own. The band’s formation goes back to 2004 and in their years of hardwork and percevierence to find this identity of theirs, they have come a long way as musicians and as a performing act. The last 2-3 years have landed them big gigs and an even bigger fan following which does tend to catch them up and fill up most of their venues wherever they go. The one thing that goes down well with the band’s self proclaimed genre classification of ‘jamband’ is the time they have taken to get into studio. Phish, Grateful Dead, Moe and other American jam monsters have all had a history been happy to be rocking it live until producers literally pushed them to putting down their stuff on tape. In that respect, it is quite ironic that STR’s debut is called ‘Feels Good To Be Live’.

The band took their time to record this album, as various sources say. From initially self producing the album to completely working with a commercial producer like Shantanu Hudlikar (of Yash Raj Studios), the album has undoubtedly undergone many many sonic and creative changes to reach the disc that you might find at your local music store today(FYI, by producer we dont mean treasurer/money bank but one who executes and guides a band in a direction which makes the studio release a musically and commercially viable effort). Having said that, the album sounds very much in a secular, analogueish zone that does not necessarily conform to commercial pop/rock music benchmarks of today (Which honestly,is a good thing). The songs are well structured and provide good entertainment to the listeners bringing the bands live fun vibe into the recording in a very simple and familiar motif of sounds.

The best part about the album according to us was the fact that no idea or tune seemed forced into song or any such situation. That being very apparent through the second track, Horn Ok Please which is one of the top tracks on the album speaking of the chaos on the streets of India. Grooves sit in easy to make STR’s compositions work in a nicely directed process. Aha is the radio-friendly hit track of the band which is not only immensely popular amongst the fans being a previously circulated single but is still the most stand-out track on the album with its surprise latin break which is just pure class. Tommorrow, with its Hendrixesque groove and riffage comes through slamming with its head held high. City In a Situation is the other groove laden track which in a way is quite characteristic of STR’s sound with its odd time reiterating breaks which get you moving to its new groove in no time. Unlike many other bands in our scene who are scared of putting out ‘slow’ tracks on their debuts, STR go headstrong with their soulful almost ballad like groovy tracks like  Eddy On A Roll which only cements the bands integrity as musicians staying true to their ideas. As far as individual performances go, every member delivers but more like a module to the unit that is STR’s sound which makes all 7(or of them totally invaluable. That is again something that has finally started happening with our bands unlike every member trying to be a solo superstar like it used to be till a few years back.

For those who have not seen the band or heard the album yet, all we have to say is go watch them or get the CD as soon as you can. Like most good artistes, their music does more talking than we could about them. STR is worth the wait, hype and anything else that you might have heard about them. The band delivers on all fronts on tape and live with their fun, jam filled performances which leave every audience member craving for more. These boys seem like they are feeling good in their skins indeed and intend to take their music forward with every passing song, gig or jam. We sure hope they keep at it!

Sample the album at their website.

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