Katy Perry

One Of The Boys

EMI; Rs 350

Katy Perry, as her debut record points out, is not One Of The Boys. She admits to savouring the taste of a girl’s cherry chap-stick in the now-smash I Kissed A Girl, wishes that the guy she grew up with finally notices her in the title track and chews up a flaky boyfriend with some strong statements in Hot Cold. But all that doesn’t elevate this pop.

While Perry has a voice that could be a gem, it is her material and more importantly the production that turns One Of The Boys into a dud.

Despite what Perry claims in Fingerprint about wanting to “break the mould”, she falls painfully into the bubblegum pop stereotype because of the production values. If You Can Afford Me has none of the drama of Material Girl and not enough attitude to carry of its rather unimaginative gold-digging content. The catchy Ur So Gay is apparently Madonna’s current favourite. But though Madonna is a fan and Perry has thanked Amy Winehouse and Lilly Allen for bringing back more women to the charts, she lacks Winehouse’s raw delivery or Lady Madge’s charisma. She sings of girl power, teenage angst, girl bonding, heartache and identity crisis: all potential subjects for a wholesome tune. But if you look at the bigger picture, it’s a little late in life for a 23-year-old to be singing about kissing girls. Or admonishing boys.

We’ll wait for the grown-up follow-up.

Malini Banerjee

Prachir

Prachir Asha Audio; Rs 99

With a name straight off a Pink Floyd record — The Wall — one does not expect the post-grunge/nu-metal onslaught that characterises Prachir’s eponymous debut. Right from the opener Parichay, it is apparent that the Calcutta quintet steers clear of psychedelic jams in favour of a sound that piggybacks on Disturbed to Ten-era Pearl Jam, with a healthy dose of Fossils thrown in. With all the influences in place, Prachir — the band is Bua (guitars), Ashu (bass), Indro (keyboards), Ayan (drums) and frontman Soumya — carves out a groove-heavy space. Stop-starts, crunchy guitars and a heavy bottom-end help carry rockers like Bharat-barsho; there’s a leaning towards funking things up in Shrinkhol and Lal holud. The lone power ballad Hotasha works well.

It is refreshing to come across a Bangla rock band that leans heavy and pulls it off on debut. We will wait for those battlefront lyrics to mature and hope that the vocalist sheds shadows to emerge in his own space.

Tabeer

Shafqat Amanat Ali Music Today; Rs 199

He’s best known as the voice of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’s Mitwa. Shafqat Amanat Ali, son of Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and nephew of the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, is soon to be remembered for more. His debut solo album offers glistening pop in deep, untainted vocals. While his gayaki is instantly recognisable, that gifted voice skillfully skirts contemporary waters in composition. Along with a kitty of original tracks written and performed for Tabeer, quwwali listeners will be in for a treat with Ali’s version of Dum Ali Ali Dum.

Nylon-string guitars and a light Latin-tinged groove melds with the santoor on the Amir Khusrau kalaam Rang Le, while darker chords colour the tribute titled Bulleh Shah, easily the standout track of the album. A must-buy for those earthy tunes.

Arka Das