NOT NOW RIGHT NOW

"NOT NOW RIGHT NOW JUST MIGHT BE THE BEST POLITICAL BAND EVER...I THINK I SEE EVIL IS THE BEST ROCK ALBUM I'VE HEARD ALL YEAR."


Politics and music have crossed many a time. In the sixties, it was folk protesters; in the seventies, everybody was anti-war, in the eighties, we had Farm Aid and Band Aid and Kool-Aid (just kidding); In the Nineties we had the manic funk of Rage Against The Machine; and today we have those hyperactive metalheads System of a Down. You can add to that list Not Now Right Now, who takes the best ideas of both Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down, combines them, and just blows everyone else out of the water.

Yes, NNRN just might be the best political band ever. By taking the lyrical rage of SOAD and pairing it with the machine-gun vocals of Anupum Mehrota (think Zak de la Rocha, only more bitter, less tonal, and way faster), NNRN has created a frontman who is virtually invincible- every single line here is memorable, screamable, quotable, and amazing. Try scratching these phrases in a bathroom stall somewhere: Hey! Gallant rogues and dopes! You’ve all been appointed the citizens of the month! Gain wealth, forgetting all but self- hail patriots and twenty-four karats! , or “Convenient conclusions stifle revolutions!”

If not already obvious by those quotes, here’s the facts: The guys in NNRN have put some blistering social commentary in this album. But don’t worry, this isn’t partisan angst; Instead of tackling ‘issues’, NNRN tackles issues, like uncaring citizenry (“Citizen of the Month”), war (“The Surgeon”), selfish rich people (“Mimic the Accident”), governmental diversion tactics on people (the ironic screaming of “Go, Yao Ming, Go!” during “Weird in the Public”), and governmental corruption (Every track on this album). They lay it all out in an essay as well- and even though this is 10 tracks of blistering rant and diatribe, the message never gets old. Maybe it’s because nobody is saying this stuff…perhaps more people should.

In creating a guitarist, they used this equation: [(Tom Morello – crazy pedal effects) + (SOAD Guitarist – metalhead tendencies + tougher rhythms)] = guitarist. That end result turned out to be Apurva Mehrota, a guitarist of the most unique quality. The riffs are all brilliant, with the exception of one instrumental track that was really just pointless. Each guitar line fits the ravings of Anupum perfectly, whether chugging away mercilessly (“Weird in the Public”), or jangling along harmlessly (“The Surgeon”), or rocking out in a very unique way (“Silent Alarm”, “Mimic the Accident”). The best instance of guitars is “Mimic the Accident”, which features a great single-note riff accented by pulsing bass, until a palm-muted riff takes over, which leads into a punishing chorus riff. The chorus here is the best on the album- you can just feel the seething anger held by the band here. This leads into a solo section that’s beyond words- it’s just stunning in its technique, tone, and note structure. I’ve heard it multiple, multiple times and I still can’t predict where it’s going next when I hear it. It’s that good.

So now that you know the amazing parts, I can tell you this: the whole is better than the parts. I haven’t even talked about the hyperactive bass lines or the perfectly punctual drumming. The best example of everything working together is “Citizen of the Month”. It starts out with guitar noise for a couple of seconds, before letting loose a vocal line that sounds like it’s trying to break free from the constraints of tempo, so rapid-fire is the delivery. The drums compliment this, as the guitars fall around it in a cascading manner until the chorus kicks the song into overdrive, forcing you to raise your fist and scream “HEY!” with them. The solo section is next, as the guitars go nuts and the bass does the same. It’s brilliance- pure and simple.

I Think I See Evil is the best rock album I have heard all year. If you liked Rage Against The Machine, you will praise the ground NNRN walks on, because this is even stronger rock than RATM put out. If you like System of a Down, you’ll love this too- because the guitars are as crazy as SOAD’s- just in a different way. These ten* shots of vitriol are simply stunning in their scope and performance- there’s just no way that you can avoid NNRN. Scream with them, or scream at them, but you’ll be screaming soon.

-Stephen Carradini
- Independent Clauses

"I THINK I SEE EVIL IS AN INSPIRING RELEASE...IT'S STUFF LIKE THIS THAT REALLY MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE ROCK IS ALIVE AND WELL."


Even reading the lyric sheet of Not Now Right Now's I Think I See Evil is a refreshing departure from the popular themes and motifs in modern rock. The group’s individualistic style, revolution-inspiring attitude, and DIY approach show four musicians who are as intelligent as they are original. With a strange twist of a poetic, SYSTEM OF A DOWN meets punk rock rebellion sound, the New York based quartet is quickly picking up comparisons to the like of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. While not as musically intense as RAGE, Not Now Right Now does possess the same intensely innovative personality, bursting with energy and passion. The vocals are forceful and unrelenting, with a sort of speak/sing vibe drawing influences from somewhere between RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and AT THE DRIVE-IN (and the post-hardcore comparison suits NNRN just fine, if not in sound than in inventiveness). Anupum Mehrotra is a frontman with something to say rather than a broken heart and microphone in hand, a refreshing escape from many of the modern rock trends. He’s fiery and cunning, delivering a message in each song.

I Think I See Evil is a self-released album, and as in the case with most self-released discs the production does suffer slightly. Almost every instrument (vocals included) could afford to have more of a “full” sound and the guitar volume could be pushed up a few notches. I doubt the record is a real indication of what I would expect to be a great live show. Still, this is an inspiring release from a group that shows the passion to get where they need to go. Unfortunately, the fickle music industry tends to overlook the bands that have the most original sounds, but I have a feeling Not Now Right Now will be able to avoid being a casualty of apathy. Their message is too strong to be ignored, and it’s stuff like this that really makes you feel like rock is alive and well.
- Pastepunk

"I THINK I SEE EVIL IS A BRILLIANT ALBUM...THIS BAND WILL ONE DAY BE THE NEXT MAJOR VOICE OF POLITICALLY CHARGED MUSIC." [4.5 out of 5]

Kervin hail from New York, and are causing quite a sound explosion in the U.S. The four piece combine the political and revolutionary injection of Rage against the Machine with the sound of very early Red Hot Chilli Peppers and System Of A Down, whilst throwing in their other major influences including Hip-Hop, traditional Indian music and grunge. This is socially aware, leadership hypocrisy and citizen indifference attacking poetry with dance friendly hooks and a powerful rock edge. Sound good?

It's unlikely that many people will hear a similar album to this, unless they whack on an old RATM album. Kervin seem to have dropped themselves into the void left by RATM, with the hope they can grow into it, and maybe one day lead the thousands of Rage fans left hungry by the bands depletion onto a new level. It's amazing how no-one did this sooner, I guess many bands were waiting for the work of Audiosalve before deciding what to do, and in their anti-climax were able to head out in hope of picking up where Zac De La Roche left off. Kervin's album isn't just a plane rip off though; it has sparks of originality and difference, which will have a new breed of music lover following their political parade.

"I Think I See Evil"? is a brilliant album, full of high quality songs, full of energy from the moment it begins, funky, up-lifting and with a varying tempo, it can make you want to dance, and can make you want to riot in its moments. It's wonderfully written and performed. Take tracks like "Mimic the Accident"? with its powerful chorus would spark slam pits world wide, yet some of the guitar trickery and solos would fit into some of the most laid back RHCP tracks. Believe me; this band will one day be the next major voice of politically charged music.
- Punktastic

"FANTASTIC RAW HUMAN EXPRESSION."

Not Now Right Now could be the heir apparent to the gaping hole left behind by the demise of Rage Against the Machine. The band was formed around brothers Apurva (guitar) and Anupum (vocals) Mehrotra. All four members of NNRN are playing at a sky-high standard . Anupum is the star of NNRN. His attack on the mic is as deadly as Zack ever wanted it. The energy that NNRN creates musically draws you in, but it is what Anupum is saying and how he's saying it that makes you settle in prepared to study Kervin's every move. I THINK I SEE EVIL hasn't left my main room stereo in two weeks. Fantastic raw human expression. Malcolm-rock extraordinaire. - Skratch Magazine

If the world ever needed another Rage Against the Machine to take righteous aim at oligarchy and tyranny, it needs it now. But with Zack de la Rocha missing and Tom Morello playing for Audioslave (viva la revolución?), Brooklyn's own Not Now Right Now have stepped up to the plate with a swinging bass guitar, fiery axe, raging rhythm section and boatloads of conviction.
It's worth mention that they bring the blazing protest with far more hooks and smarter execution than the Los Angeles boys of yore. They'll doubtless be compared to Rage because of their anti-nepotist, anti-fascist, anti-Big Brother lyrics, but where de la Rocha and his cohorts brought the anger with simple three-chord constructions and unimpressive rhythms, Not Now Right Now's solid instrumentation virtually eclipses their political message. Instead of relying on sheer volume and overdrive for their impact, they deliver complex and vicious rhythmic patterns and hooks to root their songs in your cranium. They're not too far from At the Drive-In, sonically speaking, but are even tighter and more controlled than that influential group.

"Quitting and Getting Paid" is about as killer an opener as the group could have chosen to kick off this 33 minute fury-tour. Opening with a wake-up double shot of chord blasts, Cy Christiansen's hyperactive drumline chases Charles Oliver's skittish bassline down the scales into Anupum Mehrotra's spats of lyrical venom. As political lyrics go, Mehrotra's are more astute than most, and of a sufficiently universal nature to have a decent shelf-life: "Back with jungle lust / navigate the map of massacres...the shock sure stung / now here comes the tantrum." The second Mehrotra brother, Apurva, unsheathes a sharp guitar hook to ground the group's unleashed rhythm section. In the song's bridge, he willingly takes part in the pandemonium, his electric joining the bass in its scale tumbles. "The Surgeon" alternates between a more clear-toned guitar-and-bass attack and a screeching overdriven one, after which a third thunderous riff leads Apurva into a clean solo and a subdued finish. "Silent Alarm" whips about with machine-gun quickness, culminating in cymbal-thrashing and an annihilating guitar strike. "Citizen of the Month" churns with vengeful energy and swirling guitars, while a clever, cymbal-accented drum line leads into a roaring, Rage-inspired climax peppered with call-and-response choruses. And for much-needed variation, "Keep Up the Swelling"'s bass-led melody takes occasional breaks to let quieter musical phrases through.

There are rare moments of weakness. "Mimic the Accident" for example, can't muster a memorable melody, and "Yesterday's New One" strands an excellent bass line in a sea of weak guitar leads. But even with occasional stumbles and a few rehashed ideas, I Think I See Evil is remarkably consistent, and its ever-present political overtones don't detract from its replayability. As a mission statement from a band that seeks to "spark a grand and complex revolution", it drives home its point with gusto and a great deal of instrumental skill.
- Splendid Magazine

"I THINK I SEE EVIL PACKS THE BIGGEST KICK IN THE ASS I'VE HEARD ALL YEAR...A TREMENDOUS ROCK ALBUM (DEBUT!)

The term punk has become either so loose or so heavy-handed, I’m not sure what to consider punk anymore. Do I love punk? Do I hate punk? At this rate, I don’t think I’ll ever know.

The last “sociopolitical punk” album I reviewed was the God-awful Evolution of Energy, and I’m not sure cash-in whores like S.T.U.N. should even be mentioned in the same breath as . If nothing else, Not Now Right Now are brutally honest. Nothing about the lyrics is hackneyed and the entire band presents it like they damn well fucking mean it.

Not necessarily a punk band in the new 2004 sense of the word, Not Now Right Now are the lost son of At the Drive-In and Rage Against the Machine. For being strictly unique, I can’t give the band credit, but I can award them for making their parents proud. Vocalist Anupum lashes out a gut-punching delivery in the hip-hop influenced style of Rage singer Zach de la Rocha, but much, much faster. The man’s got the speed of a jaguar and loses none of the power in the race.

On the downside, there are points where the vocal melodies come out a bit samey, although the vocal style which Anupum chooses is so difficult he can’t be faulted, and he manages to keep the waves in motion for the majority of the album.

The songs themselves, musically, are heavy ATDI-style rockouts. When put in the whole, the thirty-three minute album packs the biggest kick in the ass I’ve heard all year. Individually, though, some of the songs don’t fare as well out of the context of the album. As pieces of the album they’re another hard slam in the wall, but as just songs they’re pretty plain - not bad, just plain. They’re satisfying from the perspective of an ATDI fan like myself who has been finding Sparta pretty pussy, but they’re just not great. Not even the lyrics, slithery and poetic, can help an average song. That’s only some, fortunately. “Quitting and Getting Paid”, “Mimic the Accident”, “Citizen of the Month”, “Yesterday’s New One” and album highlight “Weird in the Public” all come together for many repeated listens. Don’t get me wrong, I Think I See Evil isn’t just an EP’s worth of good songs - at thirty-three minutes you’re getting a tremendous rock album (debut!), and the especially great songs are just a part of the package.

The only truly weak moment is repetitive instrumental “Intel Hell”, which slows down the action mid-album without providing any substance.

In a post-ATDI/Rage world, Not Now Right Now should provide the mixture of punk, funk, and rock to satisfy those who’ve found those particular bands offshoots a bit weak. But the thing that truly sets NNRN apart is the emotion. This band is more passionate than even their predecessors, and it’s something that should make NNRN a force to be reckoned with in their home state of New York, and hopefully the whole of the underground music community.
- Music Underwater

"NOT NOW RIGHT NOW ARE THE MEDICINE THAT MANY OF US NEED AND JUST AS MANY OF US WANT."

In these days of national security threats, enemy combatants and patriot acts on US Destroyers, you'd think it would be illegal to send declarations of revolution in the post. Thankfully such promulgations are transmitted as freely as anthrax to the Democrats and Not Now Right Now's I Think I See Evil arrived intact, it's guitar-fuelled call to arms via thought spraying righteous rage across my speakered room. "Preventive, pre-emptive, preternatural preeminence/ Invented incentives in the face of all our evidence." Like a startled cannibal caught in the spotlights of the punk rock glare, Dubya is frozen, picking over the flesh of Iraqi children in search of a boost in the polls. This revolutions is being amplified.

Not Now Right Now are a four piece from Queens, brothers Anupum and Apurva Mehrotra on vocals and guitars respectively, with Charles Oliver on bass and Cy Christiansen on drums. Honing their sound over the last four years, the time served to elucidate the narcotic and nepotistic functioning of government and the music industry. Consequently what we get on disc is part rage, part rock, angry flurries of vocal riffing wrenched out over the top of feedback slathers, but backed by a beat to kick your ass as it dances. Anupum's vocal delivery draws attention from the go, reducing long diatribes of polysyllabic ire to almost-musical staccato shots, "developmental dysfunctions" rolling off his tongue backed by his yowl of spittle.

Sonically it's an interesting production mix - the rhythm section is placed back in the mix, allowing the lyrics to be understood, a tool sadly under-used in these days of hypercompression. Consequently the bass won't shake the floor, but it's inconsequential as Oliver's bass lines are more melodically intricate than the ordinary two note stoners of mainstream punk pop, and the top end work stands out as it should.

The songs pass by in a firestorm - 11 in 33 minutes, though their adhesion to radio time format won't see them being played on Clear Channel anytime soon. In amidst the recriminations and justified incantations, it's easy to miss the side of Kervin that taps into something less angry, almost tender, as "Keep Up The Swelling" notes, "it's a shame, they can't cry", as if somehow feeling something profound might convince the pundits, soldiers, charlatans etc. to pause their Middle Eastern carnage. There's a sense of sadness for what has happened over ten years of consumer-cuckolded faith, "the adoration of idols, how the mind went idol", yet NNRN never let us forget how we played our role in supporting false presidents and false pretenses.

In their explanation cum manifesto on the inside of the CD case, they write, "Left in ruin are the difficult questions that must be posed to those hoping to lead us forward in this age of instant everything, including destruction. While many have rejected their duty to ask these questions, hopefully you have not, and may this wave of noise, passion, and fury inspire you to do so." Inspired as much by Chomsky and Foucault as Rollins and Fugazi, Not Now Right Now are the medicine that many of us need, and just as many of us want.
- Delusions of Adequacy/Logged Off

"AFTER LISTENING TO NOT NOW RIGHT NOW ONE THING IS CLEAR - NNRN IS ONE OF THE MOST DISTINCT AND ORIGINAL ROCK BANDS YOU WILL HEAR."

... After listening to I Think I See Evil one thing is clear- Not Now Right Now is one of the most distinct and original bands you will hear.

One very important aspect for NNRN is to write socially and politically charged lyrics in the hopes to open the minds of fellow listeners. They have a lengthy discourse in the liner notes on societal ills, spoken with intelligence. How do you describe this band musically? Well, you've got a little punk, funk, indie rock, raggae, metal, even jazz. It's all in there for a totally unique, virtually indescribable sound. As a vocalist, Anupum Mehrotra is equally difficult to describe. His style incorporates raggae and hip hop, perhaps most similar to Benji from Skindred (ex-Dub War) but still incomparable. Though Anupum has similar intonations as Zach de la Rocha, I would compare the two in another manner. Zach's vocals often polarized listeners. Either you loved his vocals or were annoyed by them; or in my case it would depend on my mood. I love Not Now Right Now and admire their individuality and outspoken intelligence, but there are times when I can only handle a little of this album at a time, there are other times when I blast this as loud as possible and love it.
- Transcending the Mundane

These four guys come together to form one incredible, infectious, pounding, driving sound. Think At The Drive-In meets Rage Against the Machine; hyperactive indie rock with a hardcore kick to the gut, both musically and lyrically. The band is very skilled, using creative guitar parts and a non-stop rhythm to grab you, and they don't let go. The aggression within the songs is coupled with a sense of sincerity; these guys feel passionate about their music and you can really hear it. They may have put this out themselves, but it won't be long before a label grabs 'em up. - Impact Press

This is one explosive quartet out of Queens, NY. And I do mean explosive. Listening to the disc is comparable to riding out a caffeine buzz without the irritability. It is also difficult to describe their music – there is some rap, some metal-influenced guitar chords, some serious guitar shredding, hypnotic beats. In short, there's a lot going on. Imagine Zappa, Motorhead, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in a blender, and even that falls short. Suffice it to say, the music is some of the more interesting stuff to pass this way in a while. It is an energetic, driving, relentless assault, and fascinating the whole time. Not Now Right Now features Anupum Mehrotra on vocals, Apurva Mehrotra on guitar, Charles Oliver on bass, and Cy Christiansen on drums. Together, they cook. They also seem to have an agenda, as their website states, "Not Now Right Now hope to be the trailblazers down a path where substance outweighs distraction, intelligent thought and inquiry are the norm, and rock music is an outlet for those with something new and inspirational to say." Now, rock bands may not change the world, but God bless 'em for trying, and for putting out this disc. For those in search of a high-charged breath of fresh air, Not Now Right Now has arrived. - NY Rock