Cactus - Nagorik Bootam

As the opening notes hit your ears you wait in anticipation like in labour waiting for the baby to be born... E F# G A ..And even before you know, the vocals hit you with a philosophical doubt about yourself..almost like the opening lines of Fyodor Dostoevsky's 'Notes from the underground'. That friends is 'Nagorik Bootam' by Cactus. For a band I have deligently followed since the nineties and have witnessed the evolution of their sonic signature, this single is like the coming of age of the band. Sidhu has excelled with his single malt like vocal smoothness. Truely this song will go down as one of  Sidhu's finest. Baji holds fort like a crusader on a crusade with his steady time signatures which pins the song down like a sledge hammer. Bumpy's return to vernacular rock is simply awesome, lending a solid backbone and personality to the song. Dibyendu's vocals scratch your skin and make you sit up and take note. Ratul's distortions scream through the amp like as of the devil himself was on fire, but balanced beautifully against softer stretches with controlled precision. But the revelation in my view is Buti and his electronics. Like a digital sorcerer he lets those haunting notes drop through like acid cutting through metal. In many ways the Tom Morello-ish experimental guitaring and electronic sounds layered over a bed of Rock kind of defines Cactus' sound output today and sets them apart from the other bands. Nagorik Bootam is yet another song which is worth putting on loop and gazing outwards or perhaps inwards... Cactus for ever \m/