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Skinny Alley’s second album, ‘Songs From the Moony Boom’ is edgy yet mature
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STICKING WITH IT Skinny Alley has been playing together for more than 25 years now
Listening to some of the more angsty songs on “Songs From the Moony Boom”, one is liable to think of Skinny Alley as a young band, new to the stage, and bursting with the enthusiasm of youth. A more careful listen, however, reveals there&
#8217;s much more thought and maturity beneath the edgy surface than one initially supposed.
“We’ve been playing together in different incarnations for nearly 25 years,” says Jayashree Singh, vocalist and lyricist for this “veteran” band of middle-aged but funkymusicians. For those that came in late, Jayashree and her bandmates Amyt Datta (guitars), Gyan Singh (bass, vocals), Jeffrey Menezes (keyboard, vocals) and Jeffrey Rikh (drums, vocals) are one of the longest-lasting bands on the Indian rock music scene.
No surprise then that “Songs From the Moony Boom” encompasses as wide a range of musical styles as one coherent album could cover. From rock to reggae, to funk to fusion to pop to jazz to blues, it’s all here on the album. “We like to call our music eclectic rock or melting pot rock,” informs Jayashree. As for influences: “My God, there are so many… Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Steely Dan — a big influence especially in the early years of writing (that influence is still visible in the way some solos on the album play out), Jimi Hendrix, Jack Kerouac, John Cheever, Donald Fagen. The list is endless really.”
“Songs From the Moony Boom” represents a distinct change in sound from Skinny Alley’s first effort, 2003’s “Escape The Roar”. “The songs we’d been writing in the four years after ‘Escape the Roar’ had become edgier and edgier, a change from our first album which had a more mellow sound,” explains Jayashree. Interestingly, the band chose to highlight that edgy sound with a no-frills, home studio recording of the album. “The album was recorded live with no overdubs except for vocals. The guitar, drums and bass were recorded together, we stuck some mikes around the room, pressed record and went for it!” says Jayashree. As for why home studio, Jayashree says: “Money, money, money. Studio costs are prohibitive and with no label on board, this was the only option.” That said, however, the “loud and lo-fi” recording creates a raw, uncut feel that perfectly matches the gritty mood of the album.
Money and the needs of a working band were also responsible for the longish delay between the first and second albums. “The gap was unintentional but as a working band, the years seem to fly by. Gigs were happening through that time, new songs kept getting written, lives were led and suddenly it was four years and we realised we had to record before it became five, six or seven,” says Jayashree.
An interesting mix of personal journeys, relationships and social concerns, the album is tied together fittingly by the title, which refers to the 12x12 space the band uses for its rehearsals, the space in which all of the songs came alive. The “Moony Boom” comes from the way Jayashree’s young niece called the music room. The room, says Jayashree, “is a tiny space crammed with amplifiers, guitars, keyboards, even a little stage for the drum kit with wires, music sheets, cups of coffee and rugs and posters on the wall. This is our world, where we write, play, listen, talk and fight! The ‘Moony Boom’ conjures up memories of rehearsals with so many friends; Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, Ehsaan and Loy, Derek Julien, Amit Chatterjee, Gino Banks, Carl Clements. Memories of songs as they come to life, memories of a life spent in music.”
RAKESH MEHAR
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