The Big Muff in man had a jolly good weekend, filled with surprises , surprises and more surprises. He was surprised to see his family in muffin land growing Cream farms and earning fabulous yields from it (he always thought the land was never fertile enough to sustain any form of organic matter). He was pleased to see them happy and busy for the harvesting season. He was doubly surprised to see his ex-flame,The Sweet Scent of Muffin, moving on merrily with a creamier, fluffier and warmer Muffin called Chocolat-opher (he always assumed she was never sexy enough to ever find another Muffin). He was pleased to see her happily married to Chocolat-opher. That kind of made him happy and melancholic at the same time ("No country for Old M-uffins"?)But something came to him as a gentle surprise. The Uncertainty Principle had released a new song called "forever" after an insanely long gap of a year (the reason for that shall be explained later). Mr. Big Muff In Man was pleased to know they had finally come out with not just another likable song, but an absolutely powerful track loud enough to shatter window panes in his house.
"Forever" by The Uncertainty Principle is a Tour De force, bludgeoning the ear drums with marvelous drum and guitar patterns. A very mathematical approach towards music making could very well be heard as the song progresses from the verse to the chorus to the bridge with the drums pounding louder than canon-fires. To break up the song in bits and pieces ; there are more than 4 or so time signature used throughout the song, the intro set in 7/8 with a brief 6/8 plus 7/8 drift and back to 7/8, later the song kicks off in the same signature with the closed wah and reverberating flanger on dead notes on the guitar, hitting a 9/8 musical fill into the philosophical thought inspiring chorus "through the flame inside the lamp my life goes on forever" to a 4/4 verse with 11/8 beats on the edges there back to 7/8 with mad-ass drum attack and a final massive solo in 4/4. Although I do make it sound like the band had an orgy with time signatures, it doesn't sound a least bit like that. And THEREIN lies the beauty of the song, that it doesn't fill your head with confusion with multiple odd time signature, it has a very definite trajectory and a fantastic feel to it. The drummer and the bassist deserves our applause for keeping the sound locked tightly (I've seen them live, phenomenally tight)
The Guitar patches are just perfect (thanks to the analog rig that Abhishek Rajan uses live) making the band sound better than any other upcoming band in Delhi. But even though the vocals sound very good and blend nicely with the track, it retains that resonating quality of being too repetitive. "wishing minds seeking lies" is heard way too many times in the song, and the vocals just end up being a final coating of sugar on the beautifully made pie. (FYI - THAT IN NO WAY MEANS THE VOCALS ARE BAD, THEY ARE JUST TOO REPETITIVE)
The lyrics were too abstract for me to understand so i shan't comment on it. It is fairly repetitive again.(no where even close to the lyrical finesse of Hundred Octane's songs, honestly)
The production quality of the song,sadly, doesn't do justice to it. The drums recognisably sound programmed (especially during the heart thumping bridge where Raghav Meattle screams "in my soul"x2). The double tracked vocals do give a fuller sound but sounds like a group song in the chorus.
Everything else- just WOW. Good Stuff!!
Finally, lets talk about the new sound of the band. the uncertainty principle started off as an alternative rock band. But with Keith and Sidharth rajan's entry the band changed it's sound and became more progressive, drawing influences from tool, Karnivool and Chevelle. IIT-D's victory cemented their decision about this change of sound. And it has done them good, helping them win various college competitions in Delhi.
But in doing so, the band has almost come to sound like these bands. does it sound like Tool? hmm..yea, here and there, i can see the influence. does it sound like Karnivool? Well sort of. then what does it really sound like??
EXACTLY. The Uncertainty Principle is like tool and karnivool's love-child. "Forever"s intro guitar part sounds very tool-ish. And the bright and colourful chorus and bridge is very Chevelle-ish.
Not that its a bad thing, but it does put you off. For a band that started off covering songs by RHCP, changing its sound means a lot of work. The sky is the limit for them if they work on their songwriting skills to find a unique TUP sound that doesn't make them sound like anything else but themselves.
Forever is a beast of a song. Marvelous, exciting and powerful. Despite the criticism The Uncertainty Principle remains one of Delhi's most promising new acts. Hope to see more of them in the future
News in - "The Question" already is under production. Sit tight!
RATING:
(8 and a half muffins)
8.5/10
follow them on these websites :
http://www.myspace.com/the_uncertainty_p...
http://www.reverbnation.com/theuncertain...
http://www.youtube.com/user/tupdelhi
http://www.facebook.com/tupdelhi
The Uncertainty Principle are :
Abhishek Rajan (AB) - Lead Guitar/ Backing vocals
Nishant Kurup (Nick) - Rhythm Guitar
Siddharth Rajan - Bass
Keith Peter - Drums/ Backing Vocals
Raghav Meattle - Vocals
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