Artist: Ifs and Buts
Album: Ifs and Buts EP
Label: Independent
Produced at: DB Junction
Release Date: 15th March, 2012
I could finish the review of the Ifs and Buts EP in one simple formula. Ready?
Ifs and Buts ≈ 50% Dashboard Confessional + 50% Guster
But of course, that’s not the entire story now is it? Otherwise those squiggly lines above would be dead straight. But since I’ve given the formula let me state the obvious – the EP is two dudes on an acoustic guitar performing indie music with a whole bunch of harmonies thrown in. Good. Now with that out of the way, let’s talk about those squiggly lines.
There is an earnestness and innocence to Indie music when done well that somehow no other genre of rock or pop can muster. Whenever I think about Indie performances my mind always goes to what I witnessed at BFlat a couple of months back: the frontman of the American band Madras was in town and decided to do a few songs by himself before Sulk Station got on. He took the stage with only a guitar and a bass drum at his feet. The performance lasted for about half an hour but all through his voice was barely above a whisper, the guitar strums faintly ringing in the background. I was certain that the normally chatty crowd would undoubtedly drown him out. But….. but…. the entire floor sat in wilful silence and whooped at the end of every song. That for me defined indie rock.
What the two members of Ifs and Buts have realized through this EP is something equally profound -albeit a little intermittently because of which the album stops just short of enchanting. The album closer “If You Were” for example has as much charm as the “I don’t know what anyone sees in anyone else … but you” sequence at the end of Juno – even though the guy is actually telling an ex-lover that she’s a bitch and he’s moved on. And then there’s Stuck – that song just puts a smile on your face. Where the album becomes inconsistent is through tracks 3, 4 and 5 – Blink and You Miss, Two Cities and Change. The songs aren’t bad. It’s just that there’s a real thin line between real earnestness and orchestrated earnestness in Indie and through these 3 songs the guys just seem to struggle a bit while trying to navigate that line.
Whatever the positives and negatives of the album might be, one must admit that the EP never has a dull moment through its almost 20 minute run time. For these guys with little else other than the acoustic guitar and their voices that’s quite commendable. Although I do feel compelled to mention what I thought was a slip up on the first track Little Bit – I don’t know if it’s just me but then … no harm no foul, though, so we’ll try to move on. At the end of the day, I’m glad that this album exists. Not many musicians in India play or compose this kind of stuff; even fewer do it as well as the songs on this EP. But the real test of Ifs and Buts will be when they try to put a full album together – keeping things interesting for double the duration will be quite a bit more difficult. Till then though, I’ll have Stuck on repeat
