Music this week: Tip of the Hat

The Doppler Effect band members; the album cover (inset).

Album: The Doppler Effect (EP)
Artist: The Doppler effect
Label: Unsigned
Price: $4.95 (on Amazon)

Setting out with a mission of reviving the grand old traditions of classic and glam rock, Delhi-based The Doppler Effect, has done just that in the last four and a half years of its existence. Now having toured extensively across the country, the four-member act recently released their debut eponymous EP, invoking the old gods (Led Zep, Pink Floyd and their ilk) in new ways. The line-up comprises Akshay Johar on bass, Ashwin Nayar on guitar, vocalist Sherry Matthews and Suyash Gabriel on drums, 20-somethings with far older souls. Think of them like a musical Dr Who, distorting space-time for the benefit of aural, er, all.

With five songs and clocking in at a little over 20 minutes, the EP begins with Wander. Here, the music doesn’t so much wander as it struts, across Funky Town down that highway to hell. Gabriel’s feather-light touch (on this track) on the snares and cymbals provides the ideal board for the guitar and bass to spring off, while Matthews’ tries out various vocal styles ending on a high note, with a yowl reminiscent of Robert Plant. Believe is more ripped, or riffed if you will, with melodic musculature, like a more emphatic Pink Floyd, while Told You So is lighter, flecked with strains of almost reggae-like funk and contains one of our favorite guitar solos. Sense of Reality warps with a thrumming bassline and distortion of the Audioslave kind, making it ear candy to listen over and over.

Seamlessly shifting from one old school of rock to the other, the band sound is like a military brat, chameleon-like adaptive and pleasing. Nayar and Johar play off each other effortlessly with Gabriel’s drum work giving the sound its scape while Matthews transient styling provide the cohesiveness to the different elements. While clearly influenced by the greats, the band manages to avoid sounding derivative, largely due to the way they permute styles and conventions.

shantanu.david@expressindia.com

Source:: Indian Express