Boxing Gandhis

Album Review

A name as clever and amusing as the Boxing Gandhis gets one's attention. The late Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian activist who has often been compared to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because of his commitment to social and political change through nonviolent activism—King, in fact, was inspired by Gandhi's example when he led the American civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Gandhi, a devout Hindu, firmly believed in the Hindu principle of "ahimsa" or non-violence—so he was hardly a boxer! But more important than the L.A. band's funny name, of course, is its music, and on this self-titled debut album, it offers a likable, though derivative, soul/rock mixture with a late 1960s/early 1970s flavor. Influenced by Sly and the Family Stone, War and others, the Gandhis are, like Lenny Kravitz, retro and proud of it. But while Kravitz's best work has sounded quite focused, the Gandhis come across as a bit undeveloped. The songs on this CD are generally decent, although none of them blow you away. Nonetheless, one could hear the Gandhis' potential. But the album wasn't a big seller, and commercial success continued to elude the little known band.