After 3 years since their eponymous debut album, Overload’s intriguingly titled, Pichal Pairee, is indeed a fitting follow-up. It’s predominantly instrumental again – a drastic departure from the average Pakistani band. Saat mein has Ustad Alah Loke’s pakhawaj complementing the vibrant percussion sound orchestrated by Farhad Humayun. Vichar gai is curiously ominous till a more metal’ish sound kicks-in, but with the traditional base retained throughout – this one catches on quite interestingly. The title song is unfortunately the weakest, with barely a structure worth following, but Amjad Khan and One mile high more than make up for it! The former, with its rhythmic, trashy Euro sound and the latter, a considerably mellow track with absolutely haunting clarinet by Jaffer Hussain and a brilliant closure, are mesmerizing! Kaykra is pacy and engrossing, while Mela kariyay, with vocals by Meesha and the raucous percussion adorning a soulful, folk tune is quite a zany attempt. Dig and Dhol bajay ga round off the album delightfully – though the latter’s more populist sound and vocals are mildly jarring, the drums and percussion combo in both tracks are enthusiastically liberating! Pichal Pairee is a plucky new addition from one of the most promising Pakistani bands.
Keywords: Overload, Farhad Humayun, Sheraz Siddiq, Mahmood Rahman, Meesha, Nasir, Kaala Sain, Ustad Allah Loke, Jaffer Hussain, Farhan Ali, Shafqat Hussain, Hassan Mohyeddin
