The Lightyears Explode! are an alternative/punk band from Bombay, and really are the face of Indian upcoming punk rock along with bands like Scratch Card Winners or Pip Of The Fourth Mother.
If you want a closer look at the aforementioned face, here's a stolen photo.
If you want a closer look at the aforementioned face, here's a stolen photo.
Holy Cow! That guy looks like a mix of Saurav Samaddar and Suswagata Roy!
As I hope you can tell, they're a three member band. The three in left-to-right order are:
Shalom Benjamin-Bass/Backing Vocals
Saurabh Roy-Guitars/Vocals
Aaron Carvalho-Drums
Aaron Carvalho-Drums
The logo in the bottom right says "The Light Years", which is what they used to be called until recently, when they changed their name to The Lightyears Explode! for copyright reasons. Not sure exactly which band with the name "Light Years" threatened to sue, cause if you do a random search, you'll realise there's so bloody many of them! I wonder if that band plans to sue them all. Man, I should bloody form a band, usurp a common enough name, get it copyrighted, and go around suing people. I'd make more this way than by selling my records.
In terms of sound, this is one band that says alternative rock and means it. Not like most bands who proclaim to be alternative rock because they have no idea what else to say. Have you noticed how so many bands say "Alternative/Progressive", cause they have no idea what else to say.
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| Cover art by Grishma Rao. No license to reproduce. |
They've released their debut effort self-titled EP, which is available for free download on the NH7 website, one of the best webmagazines of Indian independent music. And if you follow that link, there's liner notes on all the songs, more fun! Anyway, EP:
1.) She Probably Still Is:
Starts with a nice proper alternative rock sound. The sound is mostly very punkish, with a lot of energy right from the get-go. I really like the break that comes sort of 2 minutes into the song. What is cool is that the drummer, Aaron doesn't actually use double bass pedals, although it sometimes sounds like it. In their words "He doesn't use double bass, he's just very quick on the single." Either way, the drumming is absolutely intense, and complements the energy of the song and of Sourabh's vocals perfectly. Fun song. Jumpy. Try to catch the hindi line. See if you can spot it.
2.) Masala Punk:
Begins with a foot-tapping drum beat, and a deep bassline. Goes into the punk energy soon enough. Extremely groovy guitar lines in this song. Backed by solid bass work. A very mature song, compared to She Probably Still Is, which was written earlier (I presume). Evidence of the trio growing as a band. Super cool guitar solo from about 2:50.
3.) The Gay Song:
Again begins with a foot-tapping drum beat, and a deep bassline. Once again, goes into the punk energy soon enough. However, it's still very different from the preceding song. More punk-ish. Masala Punk seemed more sober, more mature. No such hangups here, pretty straight-up punk, this one. No masala, no.
4.) Pretenses And Other Forms Of Fakegiri:
Frankly, after reading the title, I was most looking forward to hearing this song. And I was not disappointed. Damn cool song. Doesn't begin the same way as the last two. Some elements of funk thrown in too. The drums sound different in this mix. Refreshing change. Insane drumming. Insane guitar solo. It slows really down after the solo, only to pick up again. It really sounds like Aaron's using double bass in this section. But he's capable of doing that with a single pedal, so there's no way of being sure really. Super duper cool instrumental section from 3:02. Not really sure of how to go about describing it. But hey, it's a free download, so download and hear for yourself. Lasts forty five seconds, before getting back to the regulars of the song. Then half a minute later, we're back to some crazy passages, this time for about twenty seconds before we get back to the song. Kind of a crazy roller-coaster ride of a song. Finally ends with your head smashed abruptly in a brick wall.
5) The Weapon:
Starts with an explosive riff. Proper distorted guitar. With them riffs and whatnot. But still a proper punk song. Like proper. I love the vocals here. Especially the refrain "I don't care, but I still mind.", with a little bit of profanity thrown in for good fucking measure. Even a guitar solo thrown in from 1:55. It's so great to see a lot of various genres of music doing solos in their style. The drumming is absolutely insane. And with some pretty evil, mad laughter, the song draws to a close.
Finally, great punk effort. You'd be doing yourself a favour by downloading this. 18 minutes of pure punk pleasure.
There's also a cover of an Operation Ivy song, that they've put up on Reverbnation, it's not on the EP though. But it's there, so I'll be talking about it anyway.
66.) Sound System (Operation Ivy Cover)
"So when we were new-ish...we used to cover this song and we found a half decent recording of it check the link "
Not very similar to the original song. Much faster, vocals are more punkish. Of course the instruments don't sound as great, I mean it's live, so you can't expect as much either. Bass is nice strong though. Even a little rap bit. Hehe. Aaron on the drums is absolutely brilliant again. In fact, I heard the original song after hearing their version, and I got bored. Cause it's so much slower lazier in comparison.
2.) Masala Punk:
Begins with a foot-tapping drum beat, and a deep bassline. Goes into the punk energy soon enough. Extremely groovy guitar lines in this song. Backed by solid bass work. A very mature song, compared to She Probably Still Is, which was written earlier (I presume). Evidence of the trio growing as a band. Super cool guitar solo from about 2:50.
3.) The Gay Song:
Again begins with a foot-tapping drum beat, and a deep bassline. Once again, goes into the punk energy soon enough. However, it's still very different from the preceding song. More punk-ish. Masala Punk seemed more sober, more mature. No such hangups here, pretty straight-up punk, this one. No masala, no.
4.) Pretenses And Other Forms Of Fakegiri:
Frankly, after reading the title, I was most looking forward to hearing this song. And I was not disappointed. Damn cool song. Doesn't begin the same way as the last two. Some elements of funk thrown in too. The drums sound different in this mix. Refreshing change. Insane drumming. Insane guitar solo. It slows really down after the solo, only to pick up again. It really sounds like Aaron's using double bass in this section. But he's capable of doing that with a single pedal, so there's no way of being sure really. Super duper cool instrumental section from 3:02. Not really sure of how to go about describing it. But hey, it's a free download, so download and hear for yourself. Lasts forty five seconds, before getting back to the regulars of the song. Then half a minute later, we're back to some crazy passages, this time for about twenty seconds before we get back to the song. Kind of a crazy roller-coaster ride of a song. Finally ends with your head smashed abruptly in a brick wall.
5) The Weapon:
Starts with an explosive riff. Proper distorted guitar. With them riffs and whatnot. But still a proper punk song. Like proper. I love the vocals here. Especially the refrain "I don't care, but I still mind.", with a little bit of profanity thrown in for good fucking measure. Even a guitar solo thrown in from 1:55. It's so great to see a lot of various genres of music doing solos in their style. The drumming is absolutely insane. And with some pretty evil, mad laughter, the song draws to a close.
Finally, great punk effort. You'd be doing yourself a favour by downloading this. 18 minutes of pure punk pleasure.
There's also a cover of an Operation Ivy song, that they've put up on Reverbnation, it's not on the EP though. But it's there, so I'll be talking about it anyway.
66.) Sound System (Operation Ivy Cover)
"So when we were new-ish...we used to cover this song and we found a half decent recording of it check the link "
Not very similar to the original song. Much faster, vocals are more punkish. Of course the instruments don't sound as great, I mean it's live, so you can't expect as much either. Bass is nice strong though. Even a little rap bit. Hehe. Aaron on the drums is absolutely brilliant again. In fact, I heard the original song after hearing their version, and I got bored. Cause it's so much slower lazier in comparison.
Who Will Like It? Fans of punk, and of great drumming.
Who Will Not Like It? Metalheads, and people who like slow, chill songs.
Where To Find It? Reverbnation.
Free Download? No.
Lyrics? No. But I'd like to have access though, seem like interesting songs.
Reverbnation profile's up and running, so General Links:
Facebook (old): http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Light-Years/132664292717?
Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/thelightyearsexplode
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