Description
with an incantatory Arabic lyric that builds from guttural growl to siren howl, its propulsive overdriven rhythm sounding almost like a Franco-Maghrebian variant of krautrock.
Belliers connections to US punk godfather Jello Biafra, as a former member of his sometime backing band Spindrift, also pay off here with Ya Malak, a coldly furious rant against political corruption and social inequality laid over a punchy, percussive tangle of strings, drums and strings. Initially sounding fuzzy and remote, then boomingly close, Biafras signature blowtorch scorn makes a good match for the spoken-word lyric by Egyptian revolutionary poet Ahmed Fouad Negm, an auspicious vehicle for his debut English translation. Who are they and who are we? Biafra howls. They are the emirs and they are the sultans they wear the latest fashions, but we live seven in a single room.
Although Who Are We? is a fairly testosterone-heavy affair, several of the strongest tracks are driven by female vocalists and feminist-slanted messages. Outwardly a romantic song, the percussive, kinetic, feverish Hobek Thawrat features Sudanese-American siren Alsarah aka Sarah Mohamed Abunama-Elgadi, the daughter of political exiles and human rights activists who clothes her call for revolution back home in the wily ambiguous language of love poetry. Meanwhile, mighty closer Mal Wa Jamal showcases Egyptian vocalist Hend Elrawy, who paints an empathetic portrait of sex workers over a bass-throbbing, string-plucking, centrifugal racket that invokes Primal Scream in their future-punk prime.
In places, Al-Qasar still sound like the embryonic work in progress that they are, while Who Are We? is sometimes let down by its oddly staid faith in the bludgeoning moral force of declamatory, sloganeering urchin-rock. Alien beauty, pop glamour and wild new sonic horizons can also be revolutionary voices for change. But there is a healthy spread of sense-rupturing potential and exhilarating skronk here, from the petrochemical protest anthem Benzine to the funky, discordant instrumental Sham System. Bellier and his gang are not reinventing the wheel, but they are making a potent racket with gusto, passion and cool outlaw swagger. (via Uncut)
Label: Glitterbeat, The Arabian Fuzz
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Released: 2022
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Psychedelic Rock
File under: Global Sounds
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