Beathe Easy with a Lazzy Lung

There’s something about the beautiful sounds of alternative rock that is so nostalgic, so exhilarating, that it has the capacity to literally to turn someone’s day around once it’s on.

With their debut album, Lebanese alt-rock outfit Lazzy Lung have created an homage to the true spirit and grit of those incredibly sweet bands that emerged from the height of alternative rock music in the mid to late 90s.

Strange Places is packed-full with memorable catchy tunes that will find their way into your subconscious, and stay there. It’s the kind of music that give you that comforting feeling, as if you’ve heard before, but yet it has that fresh sound.

With influences ranging the versatile breadth of alternative music, Lazzy Lung somehow combine the riffs of Stone Temple Pilot with the melodics of Nada Surf. And when frontman/songwriter Allan Chaaraoui sings “I can’t help but feelin’/left out again” on “On Standby” when all know exactly what he’s talking about.

The simplicity of the songs is what makes them more appealing. Allan sings about things like the pressures of a new job, or being in a long distance relationship, or simply getting over a massive hangover.

As I listen to it, I keep imagining how these songs would sound played live. It just seems that they are meant to be played live, the sound is pure and the harmonics clean, and almost every chorus is memorable enough to be wanted to be sung along, like in the kick-off track “8 Hours To Get Home”

On tracks like “21 Below” and “Ridin’” the band really puts on a show to prove their capacity to produce rock anthems that can echo through radio stations and concert halls. There’s even a sweet little folksy tune in “Rains of October”, the mellowest track on the album.

All in all, a very impressive debut from an all-out alt-indie rock band that has the potential to make it big, if Strange Places is anything to go by.

Standout tracks: “21 Below”, “Ridin’”, “Onstandby”, “Rains in October”, “8 Hours To Get Home”

Check out Lazzy Lung here.

15 for 15

I just finished unwrapping 15 brand new music CD’s.

That was fun.

Now, I have to “import” all of them onto my Mac, then onto my iPod.

Yeah. Fun.

My favorite part of buying a new music record used to be unwrapping it, sliding in the CD into my music player for the first time and going through the sleeve/booklet (I love the way they smell).

Now, that seems rudimentary. As the actual act of owning a CD doesn’t have the same value it used to. Because once you import it onto whatever machine you’re using, you are unlikely to EVER pick that CD again.

Still, I was as excited as a bunny in a free-range carrot field when I stumbled upon an entire stack of brand new CD’s at Geant, going for as low as BD1 only each! I spent the better part of half an hour rummaging through the stacks.

I found a couple of gems, a few old records and some new ones. I couldn’t get all the ones I wanted to go, because that would’ve been silly. But I’m happy with my new collection, which includes Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Rolling Stones, Fastball, Razorlight, Radiohead, Weezer and BeastieBoys among others.

I’ve currently got a little over 600 CD’s on my shelf. These don’t include the ones I got tucked away, the ones I lost to ex-girlfriends, and the ones I left behind in my travels.

Also, don’t tell anyone, but I’ve got hundreds of “cassette tapes” in my closet!

Now, let the “importing” begins!

Bahraini Girls Rock... Hard!

When women do something in this part of the world, it is always met with a mixture of excitement and conservatism, so it was no surprise to finally see one of the very first Bahraini all-female rock bands making their noise heard.

Scarlet Tear is a two-piece gothic ala-Evanescence rock band who first appeared on Facebook, slowly but steadily building up an online fan base. Their story was picked up by none other than the LA Times, with an article published on their website.

It will be interesting to see how this young band develops, especially at a time in Bahrain where the music scene is finally happening, albeit at a very small scale at this stage. Check out the two tracks they've posted on their FB page and show your support.

Personally, I think it's wonderful to see, but I think the girls are playing right at the moment by keeping their identity hidden and staying out of public eye. When the time is right, I am sure we will see them live on stage here in Bahrain.

It's the Songs We Sing that Make Us Smile

I can't shake this feeling I've got
My dirty hands, have I been in the wars?
The saddest thing that I'd ever seen
Were smokers outside the hospital doors
- Smokers Outside The Hospital by the Editors

I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don't like it
What's with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies
Maybe you don't like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?
- Skullcrusher Mountain by Jonathon Coulton

Even Rome fell one day
And I know, some day
If we don't try to live as one
We will not out last the sun
- Catch Me If You Can by Polydream

God knows what is hiding in that weak and drunken heart
I guess you kissed the girls and made them cry
Those Hardfaced Queens of misadventure
God knows what is hiding in those weak and sunken eyes
A Fiery throng of muted angels
Giving love and getting nothing back
- People Help The People by Cherry Ghost

Fetch This

I Wrote You A Song I Couldn't Play
Originally uploaded by *A*L*I*

My brother and I have been 'jamming" together in the past couple of weeks. Sometimes I'd come back home and find him playing he guitar, I'd pick the acoustic and we'd start messing about. We've come up with 3 or 4 different tunes that might have potential. We'll have to develop them. I'm finding that I'm not doing horribally bad on the acoustic. The electric, well, I'm leaving that to my bro, he seems to be doing a pretty good job at it!

It's taking me back to those years when as a teenager my cousin and I tried to "form a band" and make "like, cool, rock music!"... I've always struggled with a guitar because of my broken finger. But as long as I don't try any fancy guitar work, I'm fine!

We call ourselves Fetch.*

Oh and I finally finished writing the short story "Fragile Beings" - wohoo!


*I'll explain about the name one day, I promise.

Icky Thump is Yummy!

Jack White must be the son of the devil for coming up with riff like this! He's got the PICK OF DESTINY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The song features what must be one of the most "bitting" lyrics you'll hear this year when Jack sings: "Well, Americans: What, nothin' better to do? Why don't you kick yourself out? You're an immigrant too." Ha!

Witness the glorious return of The White Stripes

F*#!%ing Brilliant!

It was absolutely fucking brilliant!

The two-day Dubai Desert Rock Fest was filled with awesome rocking moments and I had a kick-ass time watching bands like Iron Maiden, Incubus, the Prodigy and Robert Plant perform as their lives depended on it!


On the first day I caught Mastdon, who were pretty alright, and In Flames who really rocked the place hard. By the time Stone Sour came on I was already starting to get weary – I had only had 3 hours sleep the night before. But they did play my fave song "Looking Through the Glass" and ended their set with the brutal "Get Inside"

I retired into the press room for a while, almost slipping into sleep (out of tiredness not boredom!), when the Prodigy came on. And man, if you've not seen the Prodigy live, you've no idea what you're missing. The whole place went wild as they played their big hits starting with the rocking "Breathe" and the intensely mad "Firestarter". I have never felt or been through what I did in my entire life during the set of the Prodigy. The music – and the ferocious way they perform it – takes you to places you never thought existed!


Iron Maiden. Well, Iron Maiden was every bit of the Iron Maiden that I grew up with 10 years ago. Bruce Dickenson is a great showman and to see him darting around the whole stage, jumping, diving, dancing and sliding, you cant help but admire the guy. They played the very songs I and my mates used to sing along while we cruised around the streets of Bahrain "Run to the Hills", "2 Minutes to Midnight", and the fantastic "Fear of the Dark" among others.

Featuring giant-sized Eddie dressed in World War gear with a machine gun and the "biggest tank" Iron Maiden could find popping out of the ground onto the stage, that was what you would call a proper rock show!

I'll write about the second day of the rock fest tomorrow. (will try to post more pix I promise)

For now I have to figure out what the hell happened to my laptop which refuses to start and makes disturbing sounds as it tries to do so!

We Built This City on Rock and....!

I'm leaving tomorrow early morning for the Dubai Desert Rock Festival over the weekend.

I'm getting giddy about it. Bands like Incubus, Stone Sour, Iron Maiden and Robert Plant are gonna play. I used to listen to a lot of Iron Maiden in my cousin's crappy Huyndai hatchback ten years ago.

It’s a two day line-up, so it should be a lot of fun, considering that I've got a press pass and all that and I'm gonna meet up with Samar who's gonna use her artistry with a camera to cover the thing.

Run to the hills people, run to the hills…!!!