“Doura Picchi” – The Attempted Band’s eccentric gem
When I turned on the song titled "Doura Picchi", the last thing I expected was to curl up in a corner and ponder about my insecurities – but that is exactly what the six-minute song did to me. The EP, also titled "Doura Picchi", is designed to catch one off guard, especially if it is their first time listening to The Attempted Band.
Released on February 28, The EP contains three songs – "Molecule Khondokar", "Doura Pichchi" and "Jodi Bolo Ha," the latter of which is a rendition of Chandrabindoo's 1997 classic.
Getting back to the subject at hand – the EP's titular song is an amalgamation of heartbreak and resolve, stirred with the perfect mix of brass portions that supports it throughout. It is, perhaps not too bold to assume that the song is about a divorce – but one needs not be a divorcee to feel the anguish of habits broken, in the worst ways possible and facets of life that one thinks permanent, disappear.
As the song reaches its crescendo, "Nijeke Bhalobashte Shekha Onek Koshto" (It is tough to learn to love yourself) hits like a bag of bricks to your face, as does Poonam's unconventional voice and Tashfee's solid backing vocals. Young animator Drippedink did a stellar job at animating the song, even though I did find it to pander to the mainstream a bit too much. However, it is quality animation nonetheless.
After being hit with the feels of "Doura Picchi", "Molecule Khondokar" was a much more palatable and relatively lighthearted song. According to the band, the song is "about a middle-aged man who builds a spaceship in his Potuatoli apartment". While the lyrics may seem a bit nonsensical as the song reaches its chorus, I do believe that it was by design – as The Attempted Band is never one to take itself too seriously. The chorus is where the song shines, as I found myself humming it for way longer than I'd like to admit. If the brass sections were the hero of the titular song, the bassline, atleast for me, absolutely outshines everything else here. The fact that Arafat Kazi, a masterful drummer, was able to clench himself to play a simplistic beat on accord of the song is also to be applauded as it added to the 70's/80's vibe of Molecule Khondokar.
It brings me to the cover, the final song of the EP, "Jodi Bolo Ha". While Chandrabindoo's song is an absolute classic, this is what it would sound like if Upal Sengupta woke up from a hangover of one too many pegs of Kolkata's finest. And this is absolutely not a knock on the excellent vocals – in fact, it gives the song an otherworldly vibe. The morose arrangement and the mellow guitars – they add to the mellofluence of the excellent cover. The vocalist, Gourab De, steals the show here with his instantly unique take on the song.
My verdict of the EP is a "Go listen to it now" out of 10. It is available on all major streaming platforms worldwide.
My regards to Imran Aziz, Arafat Kazi, Jason Cammarata, "R", Punam, Gourab De, Tashfee, Marcela Bastida, Mercedes Bralo, Bill Burley, "Pitolheart," Max O' Leary and Kevon for the wonderful project.