Album Reviews :: Still Waters: SUCH A LONG TIME [INDEPENDENT]

Bands from the north-east (India) have long been the stuff of legend for most of us, and admittedly it is something of a privilege to receive a copy of this album for review. And this two-guitars-bass-and-drums outfit from Gangtok certainly deserves a second look.

The first thing that strikes you about the album is that everything you hear about the impeccable musicianship in north-east (Indian) bands is 100% accurate. The guitar tones are really crisp, and there’s plenty of sparking lead work, as well as the occasional twin-guitar harmony for greater impact. All of this is amply displayed on the instantly likeable opening track “Life in a Bottle”, with its classic Lynyrd Skynyrd-ish riff. The song is marred, however, by a rather indifferent vocal performance, with the vocalist resorting to high-pitched squeals most of the time. Nevertheless, it’s a great track.

“Rock to the Rescue” is regulation 80’s pop-rock, setting the trend for the rest of the album. Indeed, “Paradise Lost” and “Standing On Thin Ice” are very much “power ballads” in the classic sense, while “Live A Little” and “In Love With a Stranger” would make any ‘80s kid extremely nostalgic. It’s all clean, melodic, and very nicely executed, except for the occasional slip-up on the vocals when hitting the high notes.

The catchiest song on this album, though, has to be the hook-laden “Happy Go Lucky”, an enjoyable little number that simply has you singing along from first listen, much like Zero’s “Not My Kinda Girl”. On the whole, ‘Such A Long Time’ is well worth a listen, and as more than merely a document of the work of the mysterious “North-east bands”. It’s not the kind of music that is likely to shake the earth, but hey, what the Hell, it’s still eminently listenable and has loads of nice guitarwork, so it definitely merits a thumbs up. A little improvement on the vox next time around would be a tremendous boost, but well done anyways.