• Mon, Dec 9, 2024
ODDITIES

From Something Relevant to Baycity Lights: 10 Conclusions about the Name Change

Oct 30, 04:15pm

Something Relevant is dead, long live Something Relevant. The guys from Mumbai's happiest, most energetic jam band have rechristened themselves Baycity Lights. That's not all - they have a new sound, a new single (called 'Glued'; stream below), and a new tour (details below). Here are some early thoughts about the name change.
 Photo Courtesy: Baycity Lights' tripod

 

1. From Something Relevant to Baycity Lights. There’s a joke in there about not being all that relevant anymore but I can’t seem to find it and the payoff isn’t going to be that great anyway.

2. As forgettable and unremarkable as the previous name was, the new one is actually quite cool, isn’t it?

3. The new sound is apparently heavily driven by R&B and Soul. For all the fancypants business they did on stage, I always felt Something Relevant lacked that little bit of soul. I guess the band thought so too.

4. They’re an “urban-pop band, formed within the chaotic blur of Mumbai life inspired by urban upbringings of city youth”. They also say the name was inspired by the “city lights we see through the window of an airplane while approaching our home, Bombay”. Aside from the unforgiveable use of “upbringings”, that’s a fairly snazzy way of announcing your arrival. And I do really appreciate bands who write music inspired by their place of existence because it has the potential to add that contextual edge to the music. (Even if, in this case, that context is airplane windows and urban youth upbringings.)

5. Their claim of playing “urban pop” leads to two questions: 1) What is urban pop? And 2) Living in Andheri, the subbiest of all suburbs in the Baycity, will I be allowed to listen to it or will I have to relocate to, like, Malabar Hills?

6. From Superfuzz Bigmuff to The Superfuzz to Indigo Children. From Medusa to Sky Rabbit. From Something Relevant to Baycity Lights. Let’s all pick a favourite – mine is The Superfuzz with Indigo Children a close second.

7. Another question that’s been playing on my mind is just exactly how many people will be on stage when the band plays live next? Anything below a dozen will leave me a very disappointed young man.

8.      The band has had, like, 600 lineup changes. So maybe, the name change was not just an announcement of new beginnings but a real necessity. Maybe their numerologist advised them to in order to bring some stability in the band's life.

9. The new song, ‘Glued’, is really not my cup of tea. Thankfully, I left my critical, analytical hat at home today, so I won’t go into a smug exposition about the intricacies of the music. Just one thing: halfway through, it breaks into a strange little rap section. And the laidback horns bit at the end of the song has a calmly reassuring and relaxing vibe.  Stream the song below:

10. The name change is not just an intellectual exercise; they’re actually doing something with it. They have a bunch of gigs already lined up where they’ll play eight new songs they’ve written and they’re even going to release a new album sometime early next year.

Baycity Lights Tour:

October 30 – Hard Rock Café Andheri, Mumbai

November 7 – Hard Rock Café, Bangalore

November 14 – Hard Rock Café, Delhi

November 21 - Hard Rock Café, Hyderabad

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