The name Motihari Brigade comes from Motihari, India, the birthplace of George Orwell.The project is the brainchild of U.K. born singer and guitarist Eric Winston.
The three-pointed star symbol on the album sleeve is inspired by the International Brigades that went to fight fascism during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.
The twelve original songs on his second album feature defibrillating electric guitar, bass, drums, layered keyboard, horns and vocal arrangements.
It all sounds like it was intended as a theatrical production; like a one-man Orwellian take on the Rocky Horror Show. It documents what Winston sees as a “zombie dystopia” of compliant citizens subjected to ubiquitous state surveillance. Rock-n-Roll Thoughtcrime is conceived as the centrepiece.
Identity Theft is like a washed out Pink Floyd number and a lacklustre karaoke style cover of the Rolling Stones’ Street Fighting Man shows how watered down the rock'n'roll content is. The less said about the ”Frank Zappa meets Alvin and the Chipmunks” of We Are The Germs the better.
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There’s a degree of over-thinking behind many of the songs. For example, for the ‘Agit-pop’ themed Disintegration Blues, listeners are invited to ”picture a leather-clad Socrates taking a musical selfie while guzzling down the hemlock.” in Winston’s song by song guide.
The relative simplicity of the coming of age ballad Minefields & Downfalls comes as a relief.
The lyrical content is pitched as black humour for our dark times but the writing isn’t punchy, witty or radical enough to work effectively.
Motihari Brigade’s website
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