You know you graduated from music school with flying colours when you’re making music like the Family Cheese does. The Mumbai rock trio – comprising drummer and vocalist Yohan Marshall, guitarist Apurv Isaac and bassist Homi Rustumji – are clearly hitting virtuoso-level skills when you see them jamming through their hour-long performances, but on their self-titled debut album, they clearly just want to have fun.
How else do you explain a track like ‘The Rap Medley’? It’s got tales of Parsi boy Marshall’s parents pressurising him into marriage when he just wants to have fun, while Apurv exudes cool in a verse of rapping. They turn to disco and funk on ‘B.O.O.B.’ that gets spectacularly jazzy, while Marshall sings a catchy hook on ‘U.N.I.R’. If you’re wondering, your guess is good as ours about the long-form of these song titles. There is an underlying sense of moody trippy tones, and with the acoustic-led ‘Sometimes All You Need Is a Good Friend’, it sounds like a college anthem, infused with a classic sarangi charge.
But they quickly change back into the technique-focused, odd-time signature band they’re often known to morph into a live setting, with the Carnatic-prog song titled ‘Lala’, which takes its name from Apurv’s nickname. ‘Stories Of the Places You’ve Never Been’, one of their earliest releases which was also part of their first EP in 2013. It crosses into everything from progressive rock to murky, grungy rock and arena-filling riffs, all in seven minutes. ‘Blue and Pissed Off’, understandably, sounds like it is born out of college life frustrations, straight from the opening charge of fuzzy guitars, but Rustumji’s grooves add a level of magnificent funk, which is pretty prevalent throughout the album. ‘The Cheese’, the instrumental closing track, meddles in more sonic experimentation – going from rock to funk to jazz and psychedelic before finally bursting back into a soaring rock song. If you like your rock slightly unpredictable and love your prog, then The Family Cheese have just the dish for you.
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