In addition to the rising generation of rebel poets, political exiles and roots-rock revolutionaries forged during the Arab Spring, polyglot Parisians Al- Qasar whip up a globalised psych-rock storm on this bold debut. The band bills their sound as an authentic snapshot of multicultural Paris in 2022.
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Al-Qasar was formed by guitarist and oud player Thomas Attar Bellier, a veteran of various psych and prog-metal bands. Bellier and his friends started the project as a more fluid group. Miraj was recorded in Egypt. A more traditional rock band based in Paris was formed as this debut album began to take shape. Al-Qasar is a set-up with drums, bass, guitars, leather jackets, sunglasses and wild facial hair. There are more experimental post-rock drones and avant-metal sounds buried in the mix too.
Barbs is a grungy, un-gentrified, historically Arab district of Paris. They pay homage to the area with a song called “Barbs Barbs”. This paean to low-rent lives and illegal parties features a Franco-Algerian oud player, Mehdi Haddab of Speed Caravan fame, who has previously collaborated with legendary rai icon Rachid Taha.
Covid got in the way of Bellier trying to get Ranaldo to record with Sonic Youth in New York. The veteran guitarist sent over a mountain of treatments, which fed onto two of the album’s stand-out songs. There is a short opening instrumental called “Awtar Al Sharq”. The anthem “Awal” is a full-blooded set-piece anthem that builds from guttural growl to siren howl and sounds almost like a Franco-Maghrebian variant of kra.
Bellier, as a former member of his backing band Spindrift, has a strong connection to US punk god Jello Biafra, who is the inspiration for the song “Ya Malak”. Initially sounding fuzzy and remote, then boomingly close, Biafra’s signature blowtorch scorn makes a good match for the spoken-word lyric by Egyptian revolutionaries. What are they and who are we? The people of Biafra howl. The sultans wear the latest fashions but we live in a single room.
Several of the strongest tracks are driven by female vocalists and feminist messages. Sarah Mohamed Abunama- Elgadi, the daughter of political exiles and human rights activists, is featured in the song “Hobek Thawrat”. Hend Elrawy is an Egyptian vocalist who paints an empathetic portrait of sex workers over a bass-throbbing, string-plucked,Centrifugal racket that invokes a future-punk prime.
In some places, Al-Qasar still sound like the early work in progress that they are, while Who Are We? is sometimes let down by its oddly staid faith in the moral force. Pop glamour and alien beauty can be revolutionary voices for change. There is a lot of sense-rupturing potential and exhilarating skronk here, from the protest anthem “Benzine” to the funky, discordant instrumental “Sham System”. Bellier and his gang are making a racket with gusto, passion and cool outlaw swagger.