There was a time when the underground rock scene in Pakistan was in full flight. Yes the late '80s and early '90s had some really good quality bands that didn't give a hoot (or gave very little of it) about commercial success and did as they deemed it right for their music philosophy. And then the fluffy pop bloom mellowed us all.Today the general consensus is that the underground bands are few and far between, and most of them are not ballsy enough to challenge the mainstream. Not co-VEN though.
Co-VEN is one band that's been bringing out stuff that's musically non-mainstream and philosophically 'different'. The band's been around for some years now, but one of their songs, Ready to Die (not a new one, mind you) recently caused quite a bit of a ripple in the otherwise placid waters of Pakistani music. Its political overtones complemented by jangling chords is nothing out of the ordinary, however in the Pakistani context is definitely worth taking note of. Experts interpret the song in various ways, and let's not go there.
It's time for other underground groups to break out of their shells and rock the sedate music scene hijacked by non-cerebral, self-aggrandising pop singers. Otherwise the phrase 'rock is dead' will hold true... in Pakistan.
