Pappu Laughing

Mountains & Molehills
By the New Improved Bug
(same as old Bug)

Pappu laughing

To all of you Johnny (and Jane) Come Latelys: I would like to remind you that I was the first one. The original one. I started it. And much as it gives me much pleasure to see the seed I planted thriving, give me my props too. Junoon bashing is currently at its peak now with the expected release of their latest and what is generally now anticipated to be their weakest album Dewar (songs and snippets are available at www.junoon.com and all over the net for preview.) The Junoon forum at PakistaniPopMusic (www.pakistanipopmusic.co.uk) is proudly home to most of it. Junoon’s own forum is not being mostly just lost in its own world and more concerned with pointless displays of worship: consider that a post at the Junoon official forum is titled “I drove Salman Ahmad’s car today…. Yay !!!”.

By the few songs and snippets I have managed to hear it appears tat the slide started with Ishq has now turned into a deep hole. Evidence seems mounting that Salman is bereft of inspiration (only so many Led Zep riffs to rip off), Ali is ready to jump ship (he appears to be the only one with enough talent left to climb out of the hole and already has a solo site up at www.aliazmat.com) and Brian is otherwise distracted. The titles of the songs on the album show immediately make one apprehensive about the lack of fire, spirit or imagination in the songs. The titles doing the round are Sapnay (remember Khawab), Ghalib (Mirza?), Jhoolay Lal (haven’t they already done this?), Ghoom Tana (hey, some imagination here), Yadon Ki Baarish (are u kidding me? Sounds like my mum’s old Mukesh and Mohammad Rafi CD titles), No More (putrid, for details see past articles), Garaj Baras (excellent, by Ali and already been released once before), Maza Zindagi Ka (on par with the butchery that was Pepsi Pepsi Pakistan), Hungama, Tara Jala, Pappu Yar Tang Na Kar and Dewar (certainly has possibilities). In response, here are a handful of titles I am coming up with as I write this which I propose are so much better and so much more relevant than the best J-boys have come up with. Bush, Mush aur Main; 9/11; Coke main aur meri rooh; Main acha hoon kyonkai main NY Times mai chapta hoon; WMD; Mera Gana Hai Main Gaoon Ga; Gori Pepsi Na Pi; Bas aik album aur; Gimme Sal Gimme Gimme;  Nahin Main Nai Solo Album Karna Hai; etc. Junoon baiting aside the one thing that continues to rankle me is how has all the anger has died with these angry young men? Guess, they just got old (Sal is 40 something now I hear). Pity. They were great once.

Anyways back to the album. All the elements of a band on the berge of a breakup are here. Apparently, Sal has gone the way of ego laden guitarmen who have insisted on singing despite not being able to. Just as Oasis often suffers from Noel Gallagher insisting to sing songs he penned, herein Junoon which has possibly the most explosive and expressive (if not at times technically correct) singers of them all in Ali Azmat, still chooses to go with Salman singing on no less than three songs. They have even called in Ali Noor to sing on a song and all of that makes one wonder who is riding whose coattails ? Since parting ways with Gumby, the word is that there are no live drums on the album. And by what I have heard it rips the guts out of the band. Lastly, the folly of all bands about to breakup: they take on critics and imitators in song (rember GNR and Get in the Ring?) J’s Pappu Yaar Tang Na Kar may have been aimed at the critics and third rate Junoon copyists, but turns out lame. The lyrics however are quote worthy: naa sadiyaan toon nakalan utaar /pichan hutt sadee cher naa guitar /tenu chare saw (100) variyan bukhar(fever) /kadee howay tera bera naa par / ohh papoowa /papoo yaar tung na kar…” Pappu however it seems is indeed developing a fever laughing himself silly to the hospital at the lame lame effort.

Lastly, with Junoon turning toothless it is nice to see the father critic bug, NFP raise his head from his haze again and shout out at www.chowk.com. With his column Café Black, he seems to have moved away from music and more into politics but not by much. He is as ever readable, nothwithstanding self aggrandizing blurbs (who does he think he is ? me?)

One last blurb: I am incensed by banners appearing all over the city loudly proclaiming that Mush has not sold us out to Bush (and that too cheaply). Talk about having a guilty conscience. I know all of us so apathetic to care one way or the other, but must we have to deal with such blatant and shameless banners? I am still waiting for all of you to plant a banner in my support across the mall. Plans may be emailed to me at KiraMaqora@gmail.com.

(Published in Sunday Magazine, 27.07.2003)