Meewakching Release Sophomore Album From The Frontlines Of Live Music's Rebuilding In Conflict-Fraught Manipur

Since May 2023, Manipur has been fraught with ethnic violence, eventually leading to President's rule being imposed on the region with the aid of a heavy military presence and notwithstanding the loss of life, livelihood and damage to the social fabric of the communities. In October 2024, more than a year later from when the conflicts began, the state saw its first successful live concert at Manipur University, which was headlined by the group Meewakching.

A few months after that, and just a week before the government itself hosted a rock festival called ShiRock as part of a wider attempt to assert strength and normalcy, Phā Rekords, the label by Meewakching's frontman Silheiba Ningombam, hosted Imphal Indie Music Festival. The event saw over 3000 fans come together for a truly DIY affair, one reportedly with no support from sponsors or corporate backing.

Now, the 5-piece group that had been at the forefront (along with a few others) of rebuilding this live music scene, which had long decorated life in Manipur before the conflicts put a pause, has released their second full-length album entitled 'BILDUNGSROMAN'.

The 12-track release starts with the band assuming a more traditional indie pop-rock sound, keeping things notably effective and simple with a tune like 'Sly', before the saccharine love songs start bleeding with a political protest edge and the snarl of the band's post-punk roots. Opening lines like "I can be your toothpaste / Against the tear gas bullets of the CM’s hounds" on 'Anarcho Love Songs' seamlessly tie in reflections of the times the band is living in into the song's lyrical fabric.

By the time we are listening to "I can't trust the government, they let our people die young. // I can't trust the weatherman, it always rains when I go out // I can't trust my own friend. I can't trust even me self" on 'I Can't Trust', we are deep into the morbidity that the band can't escape around them. Tracks like 'Crabwalking In Imphal' paint a picture of the city, giving ground reports more informative than national news cycles would.

While some lines of 'I Can't Trust' and musical palettes on tracks do, once in a while, succumb to being an emulation of their protest-rock heroes at best, the album does a good job at balancing the various influences from post-punk and indie-rock to guitar psychedelia. It lends even unflinchingly despair-filled songwriting of 'How Sorry I Am, Mother, To Die For You Only Once' and 'Don't Abduct Me, Don't Shoot Me' a rebellious optimism, much like the band's wider effort in keeping rock's spirit alive in Manipur in the face of the challenges. 'BILDUNGSROMAN' is the befitting soundtrack of it.

Listen to the album below and follow Meewakching for more information.