Choking On A Dream - Blakc

Man, I haven't done album reviews before, but I've heard this album a total of nine times now, so I was like fuck it, might as well. In fact, yesterday alone I heard it six times. Not because I'm some of sort of crazy Blakc addict or anything, but they were playing a show in Indore, and well, I had to prepared. God only knows when I'll get to go to another gig here.




Before we start, I recommend you listen to the album while reading. Free streaming can be found in this post right here! (Technology's so cool no?)

 Choking On A Dream by BLAKC 

Blakc is an Alternative Rokc band from Bombay. They consist of Shawn Pereira on Vocals, Reinhardt Dias on Lead Guitar, Anish Menon on Rhythm Guitar, Roop Thomas on Bass (That's the dude with the dreads. And as per the dreadlock code, don't fuck with this guy. Also, not to be confused with KoRn or Arman Menzies) and, finally, Shishir "Tao" Thakur on the Drums. Choking On A Dream is their debut album. And this is what the album cover looks like:

Hi! Maiself Tanmay. And you? ...hello?

It's really not the best cover, and I really don't like it. I mean it's something I'd expect from a band called Cadaverous Suppuration or some crap like that (Apologies to Mr. Lundberg), but I do like the way this polite lady is holding the mic. And the fact that it has a border. The border is so underrated generally. And borders are so important. How the fuck else will you contain things if you don't have a border?? It doesn't fucking make any sense! And it looks neat, like our projects.

Right so on to the music, the album starts the way an album should, i.e. with a song that starts the way a song should, i.e. one killer riff. That's all it takes, man, to start an album that a listener will listen to from beginning to end: one killer riff to open the album. That you will find in Rift. Song generally described as "jumpy" by Shawn. Great song, easily my favourite off the album. Easily. The album then moves to another "jumpy" song. Alone. Also, pretty good. Very funky. Sing-along chorus. Great stuff. Good song for Roop, great funky basswork. When this song ends the album comes to a screeching halt with Sold (Loose Change Version), which the band started the show with. It's like their ballad type soft song. At four and a half minutes, it's also pretty damned long, I start wondering when it'll get over. And it's a good show starter live, "feel aati hai". And there's no drumming either, that's no good. However, this is a good song for some dual guitar harmony. Pretty apt that they call this the loose change version, cause that's what I would fish out, should somebody sing this to me (<-- Not true, but I just couldn't resist, I'm sorry). Next is Newspaper Boy, and it seems like the song starts immediately, like it's in a hurry to get out of the slow mode. Pretty jumpy though, yeah. It's one of the only songs whose lyrics I don't understand. Anyway, right from the beginning you can see the funk influence on the song, particularly on the bass slapping. Pretty funky, groovy and other such related words. The song ends extremely abruptly, which actually only adds to the appeal of the song. This song is a total plus. And the degree of abruptness is completely upturned by the opening of the next song Devil's Sympathy. All slow and stuff. This is incidentally the first song Blakc wrote. In my opinion (and I weigh my opinion very highly), this is the weakest track in the album, and I generally skip past it. The only saving grace is the extremely awesome guitar solo in it and the fact that the refrain is kinda cool "It's better to leave than be left behind". But chalo sentimental hai, I won't harp on it much. So we then come to another extremely recommended song: Field Of Thought. As the title suggests, and the lyrics confirm, this is a kind of philosophical kind of song.. kind of. The drumming on this is brilliant. Shishir deviates from the standard kickdrum-snare routine to a more tom-based approach. Goes extremely well with the song. This song even has an extremely long guitar solo. Like 2 and a 0.5 minutes long solo. It may have been done by Reinhardt and Anish in harmony, but I know nothing about that stuff. Man, it's absolutely amazing. It's like you stop everything you're doing, and just listen to the solo madness. (I paused the writing of this review for a little while too.) The guitar solo seems like it has a little bit of Hindustani Classical influence, but I don't know if that's intentional. Next up is Ambush, a song that they don't play often. Reinhardt said it's because the song is "dicey". Not sure what that means. Cause the song makes my top three along with Rift and Field Of Thought. The song is a very good song for Shawn. Great singing. Great technique of stretching the last word of the verse into the first word of the chorus, while the instruments transition in the background. Absolute genius. And the chorus is extremely catchy too. This song doesn't just have my favourite guitar solo off the album, it has my favourite guitar solo in all of Indian music. It has this Arabian Nights touch to it, it's just so sweet, it can just transport you in an instant. Good song for the drumming too. Lots of the descending on the toms type technique. Album then goes to Somewhere In The Night, which is one of my least favourite songs here, but it seems important to them, as they generally play this in the beginning of their shows. The saving grace here is the great basslines going on. Overall, I'd describe the song as just average though. And at more than five and a half minutes long, it's pretty taxing too. And we hurriedly move on to Sold, which is a great way to end both, the album and the show. We've heard the song before in what is described as the Loose Change Version. This is the heavier original version. And proper, like you can feel the soft guitar bits have been distorted. Actually first couple of listens, it's a little hard to imagine that it's the same song. So much heavier, so much cooler. Even shows off Shawn's screaming side. Sometimes the crowd joins in the screaming side (I think, I've only seen one show man.) And it ends the way and album should end. So all's well.

If you don't have the time or inclination to listen to the album, and want a quick couple of songs, try Rift, Ambush, Field Of Thought. If you find more time: Alone, Sold and Newspaper Boy. The album construction is intelligent. Though not a concept album or anything, the songs still move well from one to another, except a little unexpected abruptness from time to time. But that's cool, I can live with that.

Blakc also consists of some very talented musicians. Shawn has a unique singing style that boasts an immense control over his voice. It's almost inhuman. His ability to stretch his vocals is awesome, and as Alone and Sold show, he can scream when the situation demands. I don't know how to sing to save my life, so I wouldn't know, but it really doesn't seem like he has too much of a range though however. Reinhardt and Anish are extremely important guitarists in the scene today, and any aspiring (and indeed any established one as well) would do well to take notes from their solos. In fact, I'd recommend any guitarists go back to the album and play all the solos once more. Maybe use mp3cutter or related software and make a compilation of just the solos. However, they too need some lessons on riff construction. Cause that's one area where the album seriously lacks. Roop is the one bassy in the scene today who I've seen slapping the bass. And I've seen well over a hundred bassists playing (<-- Modesty FTW!). He does some very good work in layering and completing the Blakc sound. Shishir is a monster on the stool and still so humble while he plays. During the show he displayed an ability to double bass pretty well, but it hasn't been used so much on the album. I guess alternative rock doesn't require it much.

Anyway, there are many good reasons to buy the albums, but it's not like it's perfect. Couple of downsides. One, the production's not great. It's good but it could've been better. It's not like one instrument is drowning out another instrument, or there's too much static. But it still could've been better. Two, and this is a very major problem, there are no riffs. With the exception of Rift and Sold, no other song has a riff, or if it does, it's so mediocre that I don't remember it. Riffs are pretty important man, can't do without them. Not in an altrock album.

Overall, extremely good album. It's got something for everyone. Ranging from Rift to the Loose Change Version of Sold. But there's some major room for improvement. 

PS - After the writing of this review, the count goes up to an even ten times that I've heard the album. I should really pay for it at some point.