‘Rebels’ without a cause

Such is the impression one gets after listening to Extra Kwazvose’s debut effort titled “Ndizvo Zviripo”.
“Amai VaBonnie”, “Gurajena”, “Ameni”, “Ishe Ndinotenda”, “Africa”, “Ajulius” and “Mudiwa Wangu” are the songs that make up the album which sounds more like a rushed effort than a well-planned piece.

Vocals on the album are parallel to those of Madzibaba Nicholas Zakaria, though the shallow lyrics and imposing keyboard betray the sungura entrants.
The group, an offshoot from Alick Macheso’s Orchestra Mberikwazvo where three of the leaders — lead guitarist Noel Nyazanda, drummer Obert Gomba and chanter Jonasi Kasamba – broke away from, still has a long way to go.

Nimble-footed Franco “Slomo” Dhaka who was part of Suluman Chimbetu’s Orchestra Dendera Kings is the fourth leader in the project.
Too many cooks spoil the broth, but it remains to be seen whether this four-headed monster will stand the test of time.

Unlike the biblical David who slew giant Goliath using unsophisticated weapons, Extra Kwazvose seems to be trying so many things at one time in a futile attempt to dislodge Macheso from his perch as the leading sungura artiste.

Nicknamed “The Rebels”, this new outfit fuses guitars with the keyboard in an attempt to produce a unique sound to claim a foothold in the music industry, but their greatest undoing is that the keyboard is burying the melody of the guitars, rendering the rhythm guitar virtually inaudible.

The use of the keyboard is common among gospel artistes, though the late John Chibadura did it expertly in his chart topper “Mudiwa Janet”.
There is nothing wrong in bringing in new things, but if the end result is wishy-wash, fans are bound to ask why?

The keyboard is actually good, but needs to be managed just like salt which spoils an otherwise good meal if applied to excess.
Things have to be done in small measures, but expertly.

The song “Amai VaBonnie”, starts with the keyboard whose fusion with the guitars is not exactly melodious.
Subjects addressed on the album are too common that one shudders to think why “Amai VaBonnie” was even a song when it was public knowledge that women who do not take care of their children are often sent packing while the children grow up into rebellious adults.

Darkness comes before light and vice versa, so there is just no need to expend time dwelling on trivialities at the expense of real people issues.
Gentle reader, who up to now does not know that Africa is a rich continent whose people, however, are surprisingly wallowing in poverty?

For the Rebels to write such songs which sound like O-Level essays is akin to taking music lovers for simpletons who will buy into anything foolish as long as it is accompanied by guitars.

The other greatest undoing on the album is that each of the band leaders seems to be struggling to be heard.
Jonasi Kasamba makes noise throughout the album showering praises on Noel Nyazanda.

Why on earth this brother thinks that repeating chants he made during his time at Orchestra Mberikwazvo will make people identify with the group boggles the mind.
He goes on and on hailing promoters, describing Nyazanda as “Chamupupuri” and Franco as “Engine yechitima” instead of giving people meaningful lyrics.
Gomba does not come out unscathed.

At times his drum is just noisy inasmuch as Nyazanda battles to make people know that he is the one on the lead guitar.
The lead guitar riffs are not different too from those on Macheso’s latest offering “Kwatakabva Mitunhu (Kure Kwekure)”.

The other greatest undoing of Extra Kwazvose is their deep self-belief.
Why their album launch was a big yawn is probably because they took fans by surprise. All of a sudden they bombarded them with new songs and a new style with virtually no time to synthesise and get used to the beat.

It was more of a lightning war.
The urge to beat Macheso in every respect made the group’s entrance a big yawn because much of their works are merely armchair and only time will tell whether they are real musicians worth their salt.

While what the guys did to break away from Macheso to form their own group is plausible, it remains to be seen whether they will stand the test of time.
For now, their effort is noisy and uninspiring, but as in the title of their album, “ndizvo zviripo”.