BRAVE MOVE: Cover of Accolade's new album, Pinocchio

Would you expect an all-girls' rock band from a country where women are forbidden to drive or go out without covering their heads? Four young women from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia have shown the courage to form a rock band called Accolade. 

Founded by a 21-year-old girl named Dina, the band is already popular thanks to its MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/accoladeofficial). The page is getting filled up with praise because of the girls' brave stance in a country where the religious police continue to penalise those who don't follow their diktat. 

Music fans, including those from Saudi, are downloading the rock band's single, Pinocchio. The song is really cool and has excellent guitar rendition. 

The band is currently recording an album and is working underground, fearing the religious police and the ultra-conservative ruling class.

Responding to the praise heaped on them on the Net, the band responds with a safe statement. "We are doing this for fun and NOT for any other reason. We are here to entertain and share our thoughts and skills and expand our talents in a fun way."

Notwithstanding the emphasis on the word 'not', they have made a brave and laudable effort. So, here's wishing them good luck.

The band's genesis is described on its MySpace page thus: 

Dina, the guitarist, was so interested in music, especially rock and metal (that) her dream was to form a band. She started learning how to play the guitar at the age of 16.

Dareen (bassist) was a huge support for her and even shared the same dream, so they started to look for members to create the band. They met Lamia (vocals) & Amjad who happened to be interested (in music). By 2008, they took things seriously and started to practice and create their own music. Their music is inspired from paintings that tell a story of certain situations in their lives...it's a blend of art and music.