The only rockers in Afghanistan – but Kabul Dreams take wistful approach

In 2007, a documentary called Heavy Metal in Baghdad showed the quietly harrowing existence of the city's (self-proclaimed) only hard rock band. In between the scud missiles, roadblocks and 9pm curfews, Acrassicauda belted out Metallica covers with fury, only to have their dreams of glory disintegrate as civil war forced the band members to flee Iraq. Acrassicauda's frustration and anger made metal an understandable choice of music to vent their feelings: after years of political oppression, war and foreign invasion, who wouldn't want to scream at the top of their lungs? Kabul Dreams, however, have taken an altogether different approach to their music. They make indie rock that is peaceful, wistful and positive, with shades of 90s Britpop and shoegaze. As their name would suggest, dreaming is a major preoccupation for the band and features heavily in their lyrics. This Night is a tender love song in the vein of many a gentle western indie-rock ballad, featuring the refrain: "I want to live in your dreams." The song title The Dream of All My Life may raise a few grammatical questions, but its meaning is clear and its message, of the power of imagination to help us escape, is all the more poignant given its context. When we imagine music in Afghanistan, we remember that the Taliban banned virtually all music, or we think of the Pop Idol-styled show Afghan Star, which made headlines when a female contestant swayed her hips and let her headscarf slip off. With Kabul Dreams, it is a relief to hear the strains of a band whose music is decidedly apolitical emerging from a country which, for so many years, endured a regime that attempted to wind back the cultural clock.