Artist: The Circus
EP: Sheep
Mixed and Mastered by: Arsh Sharma for Studio Fudge
Hailing from the city of Delhi, The Circus is a Rock band, who can’t be put into any particular sub-genre. Having a distinct melancholy sound; sometimes soothing, sometimes equally strange, The Circus create an atmosphere never heard anywhere else. Imagine you are in an amusement park; there are loads of rides, events, clowns, commotion, havoc, etc. but in this well-orchestrated chaos, you still manage to enjoy yourself. That is the best description I can give of the band’s music.
The band members are –
Arsh Sharma – Vocals/ Guitars
Abhinav Chaudhary – Bass
Abhishek Bhatia – Vocals
Anshul Lall – Drums
Coming to the EP – Sheep (notice how cleverly they have selected the name, it ends with EP. So basically it reads She EP. But that’s not important, chuck it). The EP is a compilation of five different covers, each being somewhat famous. The track listing goes something like this –
- Wish – Nine Inch Nails
- It’s My Life – Bon Jovi
- School – Nirvana
- We’re In This Together – Nine Inch Nails
- National Anthem – Radiohead
The EP is sort of a teaser of the new album the band is currently working on, which is to be released soon.
To be frank, the covers are pretty neat. With the mixture of techno-electro-funk and a healthy dose of classic distorted rock sound, they have maintained a distinct sound throughout. Here is an in-depth analysis of the songs individually:-
Wish –
Those who are accustomed to Nine Inch Nails, must be knowing how chaotic this song is. The Circus’ rendition can be considered a little less chaotic than the original version. Lots of techno influence can be observed throughout the track. The only down point I felt in the track were the vocals, they just seemed a little over-processed.
It’s My Life –
Whenever I see this song name, the legendary talk-box intro of starts playing in my mind. Arguably, it is one of the most popular songs of Bon Jovi, and no surprise that I was expecting that talk-box intro when the song started. But to my surprise I was greeted by a sort of madness stricken guitaring and drumming followed by a mellow pumpy bass (the bass really sounded well to be honest). The tempo changes were very tight. The chorus had a nice electro-funk feel to it. Summing it all up, too many things tried in the song. Some clicked, some didn’t. And I was expecting a fitting ending to the song, but was disappointed to be honest.
School –
This must be the shortest song ever written by Nirvana in terms of lyrics, for the song just has 6 lines, which are repeated multiple times. Simple song, just like most Nirvana songs, and pretty well covered by the band. Has a heavier intro and faster vocal delivery than Nirvana’s version, but again fails to impress in the outro. One more thing I noticed in the song is the lines –
“You’re in high school again”
Was replaced by –
“I’m in high school again”
I don’t know the motive behind this change, but it will go unnoticed unless you are someone who is always searching for flaws, like me.
We’re In This Together –
One of my favourite Nine Inch Nails song, and a marvellous cover by The Circus. The best track in the EP without any doubt, this track was just too perfect to find any flaws. Powerful vocal delivery accompanied by equally classy drumming and a heavier music along with the usual techno effects made this cover stand out from any I’ve ever heard and the track is certainly commendable for the musicality.
National Anthem –
If you have heard this song, then you know the bass line throughout the song. The bass can be considered as the pulse of this song. Continuing with their obsession with the electro sound, the bass lines gets a makeover. The sound is more like the one you hear in alien movies, where the aliens send a signal to Earth and some weird nerd guy with a million dollar radar setup in the basement receives it and the Earth gets taken over by the aliens and stuff. Let’s not divert from the point here, the cover is pretty average to be frank, I would still prefer the original track any day. The ending part has an alien group orchestra for a change, just in-case you were getting bored of the music humans make, which is pretty good to be frank(if you have a taste in alien music).
The recording quality is top notch, not a single bad patch came into my notice. The covers are pretty innovative; some parts are very well structured. If this is a sign of the things that are going to come, we can surely expect the album to be a killer one. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping to hear more of The Circus.
