Live: Shkabang @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Anushka Manchanda’s band Shkabang played the Blue Frog on Friday, Jan 15. We were there.
On paper, Shkabang reads like a supergroup. On stage, it looks like the Anushka Manchanda Project.

Manchanda, on her part, has repeatedly emphasised that Shkabang is not a solo project but a group in the truest sense of the word – they write and compose all their material together, and everyone is given equal credit for everything. Blame it on the fact that there are so few Indian indie acts with female lead vocalists but you’d be forgiven for thinking that Shkabang is a one-woman show. Their gig began with the unveiling of their first video ‘I Like Crazy’. The clip has Manchanda front and centre, playing to the camera striking Rihanna-esque poses, as the rest of her band is reduced to a supporting cast. She told us after the show that there was lots of footage of her band mates that got cut out during the editing process. It’s not the edit she would have liked ideally, but it’s the one that will air. This leads us to conclude that even if Shkabang is not the Anushka Manchanda Project, that is how it’s being sold.

Musically, Shkabang has been plagued with comparisons to Shaa’ir + Func. While both acts make what can be broadly described as electro-pop, there is a far heavier emphasis on the pop part in Shkabang’s sound. They played the Frog on a Friday night and the driving beats that dominated all their tunes were good enough for the party crowd that wanted some dance-friendly music to soundtrack their weekend. But if you were looking for music that stays with you, it came through only fleetingly in a couple of songs. ‘Asshole’ and ‘Power Tripper’ were the only songs we took home with us because along with strong hooks, they had something to say lyrically and were when the energy of the considerable pool of talent on stage came through.

For the rest of the set, it was Manchanda and her not inconsiderable sex appeal that drew the audience’s attention to the stage. But even she was not fully there – she raced through some songs, making a few lyrics indecipherable. Sure, she looked like she was having a blast playing rock star but where was that voice that has made her one of the most interesting playback singers in Bollywood today?

Ultimately, it’s their songs make Shkabang appear less than the sum of its parts. They are efficient, just not distinctive enough. It is party music, it makes you want to dance but for the time being, we’re not sure it makes you want to listen. It’s a myth that dance/pop music can’t be musically complex. As individual musicians, each member of Shkabang quite clearly has the chops. They’re also some of the nicest people in Indian indie. And any band that can do an electro-pop version of ‘You Really Got Me’ by the Kinks and not ruin it can’t be half-bad. But for now, Shkabang is a “fun side project” that’s in desperate need of a four-step-program of write-rehearse-restructure-rehearse if they want to be taken seriously. Great bands don’t just have fun on stage, they play their asses off.

Indiecision: C+

Check out pictures from Shkabang’s debut gig at the Blue Frog in August ’09.