As a band, the major members of Indus Creed had been creating and putting out music since 1984, albeit under a different moniker. But they really came into their own as Indus Creed and with the help of the unstoppable juggernaut that was satellite music television in India in the mid-1990s. When they released their self titled album Indus Creed in 1995, they released a video or two, and the video for Trapped really stood out from the rest of the music videos of the time.
It was strange enough to have a bunch of Indian guys singing in English on the TV, during a time when Indian pop-music of the album and music-video variety, was almost universally in Hindi or Punjabi. Then there were their videos, which were always black and white, a stark contrast the the phantasmagoric colours of their peers, and there were the surreal and borderline nightmarish goings-on on screen. It was difficult to not pay attention.
Trapped was a bit different from the rest of their work, possibly less "rock" than the rest; I really don't care to indulge such genre demarcations, but at the time, what I heard was memorable, and it still is. There was a distinctly Indian flavour to the instrumentation and the settings of the video added to that feeling. It was refreshing.
Its very straight-forward and lilting rhythm was a strange mix with the dream and nightmare visions in the video, and the similarly ambiguous lyrics. Verses like:
Trapped in a dream and you can't even scream
'Cos there's no one, ever here
Stapped to your seat
And you can't find your feet
Will this nightmare, never stop.
… wove in with loud guitar riffs while also keeping to a very folk-jazz like steady rhythm. It was a fairly unique sound then, and it still holds up to scrutiny after over a decade. Indus Creed ceased to be before the 2000s hit, but I hear they are now back together with a modified line-up. It should be interesting to see what new tricks they have up their sleeve in this very different world of music today. Until then, enjoy this one.
Alternative links:
YouTube [Live performance]
Also listen to …
Konjam nilavu
Kuch mere dil ne kaha
De de mujhko
Aye kaash ke hum
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1990s, 1995, english songs, indus creed, uday benegal
Na jaane kyun hota hai yeh zindagi ke saath