 Album: Uss Paar
Artist: Qayaas***1/2
By the time I hit the sixth track on this album, Qayaas has won me over. Their debut album, Uss Paar, may just have been released in Pakistan and online recently, but the band has been taking measured, well-thought out steps for a couple years now. While it is clear that the Qayaas guys have great conviction in themselves as artists, theirs is a methodical madness - something that
shines through their musical career thus far, and indeed, their album.
The album opens with a bang, otherwise known as ‘Uss Paar’, the song. At first listen, Umair Jaswal’s vocals seem slightly affected, with an accent that has never been detected prior to this song. However, it just takes a second listen for ‘Uss Paar’ to prove that it is in fact, one of the richer rock numbers to have been made in Pakistan in a while. ‘Uss Paar’ is a seamless mix of aural textures. As any Qayaas fan might have registered by now, Umair Jaswal can carry a tune. This is a good thing, because while certain mainstream Pakistani rock bands do a great job with the music and production of their songs, they tend to neglect that a heavier song too might require a competent singer.
‘Uss Paar’ melts right into ‘Inquilaab’, which as the sleeve says is part of the soundtrack of Waar, Bilal Lashari’s debut film. ‘Inquilaab’ has this tinge of a quiet sort of frenzy to it. Sure, the lyrics are quite obvious (“Tu jaane ya na jaane/ Main hoon tera”), and the music is urgent and pulsating, (and it could be just me, but ‘Inquilaab’ could well be the anthem of a musically inclined young stalker); but put together, both create a certain sense of unease deep in the pit of my stomach.
 With ‘Halaak’, Qayaas revert to what they do best: socially/ politically aware words set to music that is just as intense. Yes, you might argue that anyone can throw around words like “jalan” and “sitam” and “jang” and sound relevant, and play some heavy riffs and sound like serious musicians, and anyway Junoon did all that decades ago; but the fantastic thing about Qayaas is that while their music recalls some of Junoon’s work post their first album and pre their Sufi era, their sound is all their own. Their words are speaking of things we have grown accustomed to listening about, but they offer a shift of perspective. Qayaas is brand new, a clean slate, and this is perhaps why sometimes their music, despite being sober as it gets, evokes excitement that only the very fresh can.
For some reason, though ‘Sheherzade’ has been a favourite with most fans of the band, it fails to measure up to the rest of the songs on the album (here we omit the slower tracks, of which in just a second). It is a straightforward tune with uncomplicated lyrics, which can always be a positive when it comes to any form of art, but all that approach does in this case is make for a very bland song. Jaswal does do a guttural spit in the end though which is fun.
‘Pal’ is the first of the more mellow tracks on Uss Paar. It starts off as any song that is sure to be a hit across the board would. There are two observations about this one: the chorus plunks itself awkwardly into an otherwise agreeable song; and Umair Jaswal sounds severely generic on the vocals.
Fifu is the star on ‘Umeed’. The percussions alone lend the song an airy feel, bringing to mind open spaces and brightly lit rooms. The composition is a play between words of hope, as the title of the song suggests, and music that is uplifting. ‘Charkha’ follows this and is slightly disappointing, although that could certainly have been brought on by the fact that Qayaas felt it necessary to add a Sufi-style track to their repertoire, albeit with their own interpretation of what that means (points for that). In the same vein is ‘Ishq’, and it is the one song on this album I cannot stomach a second listen to. Just…no.
 ‘Pukaar’ of course is the song Qayaas had released as a single referring to the devastation caused by floods in Pakistan. Though months have passed since the release of the song, and almost a year since last year’s floods; ‘Pukaar’ remains as heart-wrenching as it did at first. Even when you remove the context in which the song has been created, it is still pretty heartbreaking. Qayaas is good at eliciting emotion from its audience, and ‘Pukaar’ is one of the proofs of that.
Of course, there is the song that is, by now, a Qayaas classic: ‘Tanha’. It is clean on the ears and introspective, and is a great broody rock song. ‘Tanha’ is one of the first singles that Qayaas had released, and is the perfect precursor in the album to ‘Mera Wana’, which has a more experimental feel to it as the band layers vocals and music with ‘found’ sounds: gunfire, newsclips, baby crying. ‘Mera Wana’, it can be said, is one of Qayaas’s best.
Qayaas’s grand appeal lies in the fact that they are emotive enough to appeal to the adolescent audience and sharp enough to be appreciated by anyone older. With Uss Paar, the band not only show off skill and passion, they smartly present an initial portfolio of everything they are capable of. The hope obviously is that the band will find its ground and mature, and it remains an exciting prospect to see what they might grow into.
Qayaas wants you
to listen to this song
Qayaas cherry-pick
the one song you must listen to on Uss Paar
Umair Jaswal (Lead and backing vocals)
‘Charkha’
It’s how we take something beautiful and complete and make it our own. Make it Qayaas. To me it’s love at first sight. I see all ages relating to it. And it’s our tribute to all the Folk and Classical musicians of this land
Khurram Waqar (Lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars /Arrangement and production)
‘Monsoon’
Its arena feel despite being desolate, the intense yet soothing vocal melody, the subtle scale changes and the nostalgia. It brings back the days when it was written.
Fifu (Drums and percussions)
I refuse to give one, necessarily two. First:
‘Monsoon’
Because it invites you to reconcile with your past and all the past hurts you pushed away into the mental room of memory that you no longer visit, and second:
‘Inquilaab’
Because it encapsulates all elements of the Qayaas sound and energy.
Sarmad Ghafoor (Rhythm and lead guitars/ Backing vocals/ Arrangement and production)
‘Inquilaab’
Because it’s very progressive.
Shaheryar Ghayas (Bass guitars and backing vocals)
‘Mera Wana’
The song has a screaming conscience. It evokes feelings that we as Pakistanis have been conditioned to sit on. ‘Mera Wana’ is the voice we try to push under; but has come out as a loud cry. It’s vengeful and I stand for it as a Pakistani, and a musician. |
