Easy Riders/ Virtual Lives (EP)

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Easy Riders/ Virtual Lives (EP)

Label: Self-released 

Genre: Rock

Rating: *****

What a long strange trip this is. Cut to 'Sweet Leaf Like Thing', the second track on Virtual Lives, the EP recently released by Kolkata band Easy Riders. It's an instrumental that takes a leaf like thing or two from the Grateful Dead style sheet, as guitarists Sumit Bhattacharya and Rohan Ganguli complement each other with gorgeous riffs and brilliant harmonies, the drums and bass dancing away in the backdrop. It's six and a half minutes of pure magic, ending with a earworm-inspiring melody. Roll away the dew.

The other two tracks bring on the vocals, whether they're singing "Yes, I was in a strange land, I would like to go back there if I can, I felt like a little hobbit there" on the nostalgia-filled 'Strange Land' or "I've been walking a while now, up the winding road, hoping to lose this city, hoping to shed my load" on 'Mr Mountain'. Again, the guitars take you to another zone, with drummer Arka Das and bassist Saumyajit Dutta on a roll, and Sumit and Saumyajit sharing vocals.

There haven't been too many improvisation-fuelled jam bands in India, and Easy Riders clearly are at the top of the talent league. The sudden twists and turns in the guitar solos make them ideal for the live circuit, and they have vast experience there, being on the scene from around 1994 with Rohan joining later. In fact, these songs were recorded for an online concert recorded in Kolkata in March, perhaps inspiring the title.

One wonders of course why they stuck to only three tracks, spread over 20 minutes, on this EP. Maybe they've reserved a chunk of their repertoire for their live shows, with songs like 'Whiff Of Home', 'Choice' and 'Farewell' available on YouTube. They've done successful gigs at Someplace Else in Kolkata and Piano Man and Depot 48 in Delhi-NCR, and one hopes the guys at AntiSocial, Mumbai, are reading this.

Over the years, jam bands like Grateful Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic and John Butler Trio have had their own dedicated following, and if you're into that sound, Easy Riders should be on your radar.







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