PURE BLISS NO WORRIES is the second album released by Bling, a Filipino-American band based in Los Angeles. Irony is an ever-present theme throughout this 26-minute record. The grainy noise gradually builds up together like an anxious thought, unlike what the album title suggests. Another irony is that “build-up” never reaches an apex. The tracks feel like they are itching to be listened to on a train ride – only that the train ride could be destined for a train wreck. It’s one of those albums that you listen to as background music while attempting to do something productive, but unlike the productive mind, I worry that PURE BLISS NO WORRIES doesn’t add anything new to the table. Compared to their debut album titled “fuck”, Jinro Yo and Lianna Gutierrez’s vocals seem much campier and arguably more lucid in their sophomore record. The drums by Nick Castillo carry each track with fluidity and match well with the strum of Jaed Noleal’s guitar. If only the rest of the album used the sonic experience that was applied on the third track, ix3Chocolaté, we could have hopped on a bedroom rock road trip that either went down the “core memory” lane or the “headbang like no one is watching” route. Nevertheless, each instrument and modulation used in this record are easily malleable to make longer tracks like Patiently Waiting a memorable listening experience. I hope to hear something more similar in their future work so their sound appears to smooth out the grainy noise. The aesthetic choices of Bling’s attempt at a blissful theme such as the Angel Numbers present in the track length (Say Hi 2 Forever is 2:22, Nowhere… is 1:11, and RiskOne is 3:33) solidly create a mist of bliss. My question is, will that mist diffuse quickly? Support the art & the artist:
Tag: Album Review
ALBUM REVIEW: Brickcity – We The Forgettables
One thing I learned about Brickcity as of late: they still pack a punch, both literally and figuratively. As a 5-piece resting on their laurels as a cult band for the heavy music genre since the late aughts, they’re still going at it decades after being seen as the seminal post-hardcore band doing spoken word pieces amidst a chaotic mixture of acrobatic riffages and odd time signatures. Resulting in the creation of their latest album titled “We The Forgetabbles”, released under the Desperate Infant Records label not too long ago. If bands like Arcadia, Lindenwood, and TNG can surpass time and still ultimately become cool and palatable bands in the year 2024, then what more for a band like Brickcity which has honed their style since the dawn of blogosphere pop punk and forum-driven post-hardcore. Centered around the theme of mortality, time treated as a social construct, and intentional memory loss, there’s a lot to unpack with the complexities of each page being turned as the album progresses. Jacques Concepcion – the lead of this ever-evolving unit – doubles down on the preachy approach. Spattering every syllable from non-sequiturs to daring takes about human nature. There’s a certain charm to Concepcion’s delivery compared to most whiny, almost cracking vocal stylings of the post-hardcore scene’s vocalists that he was able to possess. Maybe it’s a god given gift or a curse, depending on who’s playing the instruments and holding it down. The album made sure that it balances the technical wonder and Concepcion’s in-your-face vocals. “We The Forgettables” has spread out consistently without compromise nor hesitation. Despite all the technicalities and chords sprinkled on the album, one dangling curiosity the casual listener would ask: Is there any more gas left in Brickcity? In “We The Forgettables”, Concepcion answers this question more often than not throughout the entire album. Is their rust showing? Will there ever be another Brickcity release for another half decade? Concepcion and the rest of the band beg to disagree that they are “forgettable” but rather an acceptance that a scene is changing. The young vanguard is approaching. Certain practices and philosophies have sharpened and Brickcity has never defanged their approach ever since, introducing this almost hostile style to the underground up until the mainstream stages. Tracks like “Bermuda Noise”, “Pretenders” and “Maginhawa St” have exemplified different methods and styles of post-hardcore, leaving the listener with a varied selection of tracks that’s almost signature to the genre itself. But the outlier is Concepcion’s unorthodox, professor-like demeanor, teaching you that forgetting is a form of coping and that the concept of “time” could actually teach something valuable. But seeing its themes blossom on the forefront, there seems to be less profound hooks and significant rhythm sections compared to their previous release “The Bones We Used To Share”, treating some songs as almost filler-like by theory. Regardless of its shorter length and lesser catchy chants and riffs, Brickcity still has what it takes to break out from their own art form in practice. “We The Forgettables” is a statement not just for the scene but a love letter for the fans who have stayed with them. The album is a footnote, a reminder, that they’re about to move on to the next chapter. Support the art & the artist:
ALBUM REVIEW: Memory Drawers – Memory Drawers
Written by Faye Allego Picture this: It’s 2014, your entire personality is based on photos of succulents with a VSCO app filter that is reblogged on your Tumblr page, a poster of Unknown Pleasures hanging by a thread (in this case, tape that has lost its purpose of sticking on the wall above your bed), and your element of mystique is buried with every emotion that bedroom music playlist makes you feel. Although the pleasure of being an angsty, indie-music-centered-teenager back then is a well-known phenomenon, Memory Drawers seems to bring back that unique feeling of individuality and whimsicality in their long-awaited debut album. It goes without saying that this album perfectly fits in the dreamscape milieu of Indie Pop. The lyrics, composed by Kevin Ingco and Paula Castillo, read like a prologue to a retrospective novel about one’s memories of youth that were never to be just written in a diary tucked away in a drawer. Found in the final couplet of Lovingly, Andrea Alegre sings: “Didn’t think, didn’t think I’d hear a word/ Said ‘There’s nothing left for me, in this world, in this world.” This alone uses repetition in a way that isn’t – for lack of a better word – repetitive to hear. This track along with others such as Luuv and Esc Esc Esc feels like changing the color of my laptop’s cursor to black and opening a blank document to write whatever I want at the expense of depression and for the sake of expression. However, I find myself asking if every track creates cohesion to the album and builds an overall narrative, or if it is just a polished compilation of their past, tempting the listener for upcoming endeavors that may sound even better in that said dreamscape milieu. Nearly a decade has passed by since Hart found its way as the first track of Memory Drawers. The original version first appeared on SoundCloud and was later revamped to fit the precision found in Ingco’s mixing, and the mastering by Diego Mapa. The same can be said for the following track, Maybe, originally released in 2016. I hesitated at the thought of these songs resurrecting on the debut album instead of leaving them as hidden gems to be found on their own. The last track, …For Any Of This, was also previously released as a single but now acts as a beautiful epilogue through its upbeat nature that makes you feel like you’re knee-deep into the night; as if Ingco and Castillo along with Alegre’s voice planted a Whomping Willow that would later produce seeds for a mystifying glowing Willow throughout all these years (not to mention the album art looks like a tree’s growth rings). This is the “upcoming endeavor” I mentioned earlier. Indeed, I yearn to hear more.
ALBUM REVIEW: GLASS – s/t
Written by Nikolai Dineros As 2023 comes to a close, GLASS, the silliest MAPEH rock band in town, kicks off 2024 with a new self-titled release chronicling the band’s 2-year-long songwriting journey from their 2021 EP release of the same – featuring three tracks from the album “Spice”, “Jones”, and “Buntot” – and a handful of new material, all loaded in a magazine of kinetic energy, dad jokes, millennial-passing shock value, and musical ammo. GLASS’ creative box is a confluence of blues, math rock, and post-hardcore templates, oftentimes shifting styles at unexpected turns and in sync with the band’s penchant for odd tempos and intricate rhythmic structures. The opener track “Octopus” does not try to hide this at all; a delicate intro teases the listener of the band’s tendencies to go off-kilter before going R&B-like as the verse kicks in and capping off the song in full virtuoso mode. It’s not always we get to hear these different styles blend as well as GLASS does with their songs. By the time you have finished “Octopus”, you will already have an idea of the kind of surprises GLASS has in store throughout the rest of the album, but in varying distributions of flair. For instance, “Obmerb” is a tad bit more conventional and Steely Dan-like than “Octopus” with a guitar solo more unassuming with less post-hardcore shenanigans. Tracks like “Ops” and “Buntot” embrace the blues a bit more than the others, a characteristic the local scene needs more of nowadays as artists and fans across genres have increasingly deviated from the allure of a style that once dominated the mid-2010s flavor-of-the-month genres in favor of a more ethereal sound that shoegaze presents. GLASS’ bubbly personality helps them in their compositions, and this playfulness complements the disjointedness of their tracks. But at times, it can also work to the detriment of the band. There’s a level of wit that the band employs in their songwriting that does not always land perfectly on the feet. There is this one song in the album, which I will not spoil to not ruin the experience for everyone coming into this record for the first time, that I would consider to be a perfectly acceptable song about a particular subject matter, but they kept running the same joke towards the end after it ran its course. Nothing too cringeworthy to pass on – just the kind of pure tito humor we all have a guilty pleasure for. GLASS has a treasure trove of innovative ideas, and they are not afraid of trying them all out. Most of these ideas work, a negligible few don’t. But at the core of it all, this free-spirited energy and shamelessness are traits we all ought to have, and GLASS came at a perfect time to set a year on such an exciting note. SUPPORT THE ART & THE ARTIST:
TFL’s THE 23 FILIPINO TRACKS OF 2023
Every year, something monumental happens in the music scene, whether it would be an army of alt-kids taking over a mall show, a rapper taking over the country by storm on Tiktok or a DIY venue at the verge of crumbling after two shoegaze bands. Genres have multiplied into bubbles, ecosystems emerge as newer venues from the highways of Cavite to the driveway of a basement at a Chinese restaurant. There’s a steady scene rising, amplifying louder one year after the other: 2023 is a year where those highlights have made made an impact beyond NCR. From Luzon, Visayas to Mindanao, we present to you a yearly tradition that the editorial team would always prepare themselves for; Not just because it’s the task that’s daunting, but it’s the journey and the result of 11 months of scouring the internet and gigs for the best of Filipino music. Here it is, The 23 Filipino Tracks of 2023. 23. P4BL0 – baka magalit mf mo In the “18 Commandments of the Boybestfriend”, there’s unnecessary fluff written along those ridiculous rules. However, P4bl0’s “baka magalit boyfriend mo” has this lasting effect delivered by its cloud-9 like production, ultimately writing one of the best pop hooks in the game now. It hasn’t been written on the scribes nor the tablets that South Metro Manila regular P4Bl0 made a banger track tailor made for the rebounds. Whether it’s the wacky gimmick of BBF/GBFs or the semi-ironic execution, P4bl0 has proven and tested that the undying concept of love and yearning can be done in a dreamy cloud-rap fashion. -Elijah P. 22. O Side Mafia – My Thang It’s been an endless streak of hit singles for O $ide Mafia despite the lackluster collaborations and disputes between territorial beef and fan leaks; “My Thang” is a victorious reaction to all of the success outweighing all of the group’s cons in the game. The simple old-school 2000s G-Funk influenced synths, the satisfying braggadacio three-verse combo and the killer hook is an all-time career highlight for the group and they just stay winning while all the haters watch. -Elijah P. KRNA expand on their infectious sound by expanding their soundscapes to include reverse guitar samples while pairing back on KCs vocal strength. The single shows the band’s mastery of making heartwarming music and a story of yearning that feels like a warm embrace being whispered while in a slumber. -Janlor Encarnacion Armi Millare announced her return to the music scene with a dissonant pop single – taking the time to show her own prowess in music creation with a tune leaning towards more pop and r&b. Roots signals the metamorphosis and re-emergence of OPMs signature voices and we can’t wait for more. -Janlor Encarnacion ‘Sonic Tonic’ is the long-anticipated debut that charges Suyen’s magnetic presence amidst the fray of fringed pop rock, a bottle of riot grrl and grunge blends where Suyen just sounds high-spirited in her craving for that adrenaline rush. Sam Marquez’s production is impeccable in bringing the heatwave atmosphere to ‘Sonic Tonic’, where the already remarkable chugging riffs and splashy drum work are vibrant and immense. Enough to keep everyone cheering along the soaring hook, ‘Sonic Tonic’ is a striking first cut from Suyen who is never afraid to jump first into action, letting her do anything to reach a gratifying emotion that will keep her feel alive. -Louis Pelingen ‘SOUFSIDE’ is a meteoric statement from the Cebu Hip-Hop collective ASIDE BOONDOCKS as they erupted through the scene with their tastes for boom bap and hardcore hip-hop. Flagrant in their hyperbolic expressiveness, that ecstatic flair allows each of their distinct flows to tumble through the stirring hypnotic beat that has a quirk of its own due to its swaggering bass lines and buzzy synth waves. ‘SOUFSIDE’ stamps a mark that will break further ground for the Odd Future-inspired Hardcore Hip-Hop ASIDE BOONDOCKS are leaning towards, where they’ll spark an explosion that you can’t help but feel its heat. -Louis Pelingen With Waiian’s recent return for his sophomore album, ‘SMILE’ is a track that has a familiar thematic trudge from this rapper who has a lot more to observe past his 2020 debut. In this pensive reflection on the mortality and bullshit of life, Waiian invites Yorko and U-Pistol to pen down their emotions on the table amidst a relaxed boom-bap beat and calming piano lines. As a result of that writing session, ‘SMILE’ ended up being Waiian’s best song to date where the melodies are tight and catchy on all quarters from Waiian and Co. No wonder that ‘SMILE’ is one of the lead singles for Waiian’s recent project for a reason, as it’s a respite that brings a gentle smile on constant repeat. -Louis Pelingen 16. PETTE SHABU – Bulbulin Ka Na As PETTE SHABU goes deeper into her experimental rap tapestry with every track she puts out, her transgressive lyricism and ferocious flows become more sharper. That in itself eventually led her to release dozens of challenging sonic bangers in 2023, with ‘Bulbulin Ka Na’ bringing the most sting out of her thus far. Through every whirling wordplay PETTE SHABU spits out, her flow turns impenetrable as PETTE SHABU confidently carries herself within horseboyy’s dense glitchy beat. ‘Bulbulin ka na’ is a bulldozer that keeps PETTE SHABU in control of her agency, lashing down everyone who comes for her without shame. -Louis Pelingen The dizzying hyper-pop artist known as AHJU$$I may have retired from that moniker, but his rebirth as Pikunin has those old bits and pieces intact, now ribboned with UK Garage rhythms and ticklish vocal flair. These characteristics manifest through Pikunin’s debut track, ‘Tadhana’, using Armi Mallare’s cooing vocals as the Jersey club beat tiptoes around it which also serves to be a bouncy springboard for Pikunin’s chirpy vocals and twee lyricism. Starry-eyed in nostalgia with a modern touch, Pikunin spins a refreshing take on the classic song that updates his eccentric brand of pop with gleeful yearning. -Louis Pelingen
ALBUM REVIEW: KINDRED – subset
Written by Louis Pelingen Amidst the up-and-coming music collectives putting their marks this year with exciting sonic palettes on their sleeves, KINDRED stands alongside them with the utmost glee. The eight-member boyband that, based on their singles, music videos, and live performances alone, the remarkable quality shines through immediately with how much they work together as a group, able to plug into a focused and genuinely exciting alternative sonic palette despite each member’s own brand of creative flair and perspective. It’s a tangible connection that eventually manifests through ‘Subset’, their debut mixtape being worked on in the oven for around 3 years. ‘Subset’ is a fitting title for the stacked tracklist on display, a mixtape that showcases a glorious array of OPM and Boyband material meshed in with UK Garage, Breakbeat, Alternative R&B, and so much more. Within the 15-track hour-long length of the mixtape, KINDRED’s ability to create joyous eccentricities is surprisingly consistent all throughout, allowing their experiments and flashy energy to easily let the melodies snap brightly, highlighting the boyband’s strength to focus as a unit even more. Just like the singles leading up to this project, the deep cuts are just as colorful and robust. The jersey club bounce of ‘KZONE’, the drum and bass beat leading into that stomping bass rumble on ‘Losing U’, the atmospheric bass knocks of ‘Afterglow’, and the one-two punch of ‘L Punch’ and ‘R Punch’ where the former’s electrifying guitar passages transitions to the latter’s calmer yet nevertheless sticky melodic flows are continuous instances of that creative flair popping away into exciting territory. The word ‘connections’ is something the boyband emphasized deeply in this project, not just on the romantic relationships that are filled with tender passion and sincere yearning, but also on the inspirations that led them to where they are right now and the bonds that they’ve made and cherished within their own group. ‘Megastar – Interlude’ is one of the two touching examples of this, where Sharon Cuneta questions her stardom that will inevitably fade as she observes her friends getting weary. Yet, she knows that the younger generation like KINDRED will play those old tunes, a message that’s executed dearly with KINDRED harmonizing beautifully with Sharon at the end. ‘Ligaw’ is the other example that speaks of the boyband’s sparkling synergy. Harking to the retro boyband sound where their vocal harmonies harness a sense of grace to that era, a dedication to that past as KINDRED glides towards the future with their bonds, their inspirations, and their relationships moving them further into something worth clinging on. With the dynamic swerves on display, KINDRED within their creative stronghold not only redefines the concept of a boyband where their bonds allow them to create such magnificent tunes all on their own control but perhaps even open up a new arc for what OPM can head into; infusion of genres that makes for a rejuvenating experience for both the artist and the audience. With the rise of interest towards certain dance-focused electronic genres in the local scene, ‘Subset’ does feel like a celebration of past influences mixed in with contemporary sonic landscapes that brim with a prismatic quality. Perhaps prismatic is the best word to describe the project, with each member’s bright light collectively scattering through different directions, they become varied colors that spark individually yet gleam together as one. Support the art & the artist:
ALBUM REVIEW: Gabba – Recollections
Written by Louis Pelingen Constraints can be a demotivator towards an artist’s own journey towards creation, whether that be due to the limitations that they’ve struggled through either the environment that they’re in during a specific point of time, the collaborations with other creatives that need a specific amount of mutual understanding to follow through their output, or the sudden frustrations within one’s own capability as an artist. Because whether reasons that may be, the one thing that an artist wants as they grow older is to let go of the stirring process to create and allow that spontaneous liberties to flow through; allowing them to be at ease in every step of the creative process just to make something that still shows that they still got it. After 2 years of going through creative frustrations himself, Gabba Santiago of Instrumental post-rock and prog-rock band Deb & Gabba (FKA Tom’s Story) takes a different tact towards creating his solo debut album, where his process for collaboration and composition has a lot more free rein that allows for a lot of creative liberties. A kind of tact that treats the making of music more as an expression of Gabba’s own imaginative spirit with a lot of casual, back-and-forth exchanges with his collaborators as well as letting his creative mind do the talking when it’s time for him to make the melodies in this record. Letting spontaneous ideas bubble up rather than leaning into a calculated mode of music-making. It circulates all in ‘Recollections’ being an album that celebrates Gabba’s personal freeing joy in creating music as well as serving as a sonic diaristic journey towards his life experiences. And true to its name, the album does have a lot of blends in terms of tones, dynamics, and textures that lay into Gabba’s technical musicianship and the collaborations that helped along with the project. The Math Rock riffs and pulsating rhythms of ‘Overcurrent’ and ‘Puzzle’ swivel through the post-rock sensibilities, not breaking them apart as the added presence of synthesizers as well as Clara Benin’s vocals on a couple of songs makes a lot of those fiery guitar and drum patterns to be a lot more comforting and loose. The same thing goes for ‘Woodcraft’ with the Saxophone playing by Miguel Jimenez with its calming tone that eventually accompanies the soaring progressions in the latter half of the song, the buzzy synth tones that slide around Bea Lao’s shuffling drum work on ‘Linear’, and the frenetic drum patterns that drive around the low-key atmosphere of ‘Paradigm’. While the record presents a lot of calming soundscapes all throughout the record, Gabba also embraces a lot of progressive rock swerves that allow his joy to be immense in scope. The crashing drums and expressive guitar riffings of ‘Zoomies’ certainly do their work, especially with its brief 2-minute runtime. And the distorted guitar tones that are present on ‘Fury’ and ‘Coastline’ certainly end the record on a high note where the former song imbues the unwinding melodies with an erupting edge, all with crumbling riffs and sneering noise; the latter song sweeps the meditative melodies and mix with the echoing guitars letting out one more emotive charge just before it calms down in the end, the eventual calm after the storm. It certainly has a lot to offer given the amount of tones, collaborations, and textures that are sewn into this record and Gabba certainly had a lot of fun making this in the studio, but there are some issues that can either be distracting or underwhelming. On the former instance, it’s mostly towards the mixing of the record, where a lot of the drum and guitar fidelities can sound haphazard from track to track even if it makes sense due to the composed feel that this record is providing, but it can still be quite the frustration every time it pops up. And on the latter instance, there are certain experimentations on the additions of sound that could’ve been implemented into these songs a lot better, as some of the synth and vocal implementations are there for fleeting texture rather than adding a lot more to the melodies of these songs as well as the fuzzy drum machines that may add a different tone from the organic percussions laced throughout the record but can sound flimsy than it should be. The shorter interludes like ‘Goofy’ and ‘Layout’ don’t do much in the tracklist at all with their repeating motifs that only thin out in the end. ‘Fridge Magnets’, ‘Quiver’, and ‘Interim’ also have their weak spots, where the progressions that settle into that calming atmosphere don’t open up into intriguing transitions or switch-ups alongside texture over melody soundscapes make them sound unremarkable than the others. And then there is ‘Here Now’ where despite the presence of the keys and the electronica that tilt at the end of the song, it’s one of the instances where that lilting presence ends up being a bit more hamfisted as a result. Gabba’s solo debut is an effort that shows a lot of strengths as a result of him finding a freeing process of making music, sharing ideas with his collaborators in a much more casual manner, and letting the music be a celebration and an inspiration for himself and for others as well. It may be a collection of songs that have their high points and low points, though it also pretty much feels like reading through a diary where you’re able to see how that person is going through, joys and frustrations and all. While it is frustrating at a few spots due to the haphazard mix, meager sonic implementation, and bland melodies, to hear Gabba feeling a lot more joyous and explorative within the record through the amount of variety of sounds and styles does shine through a lot. A starting point for sure, “Recollections” is a record that’s led to its highs rather than lows. Support the art & the artist:
ALBUM REVIEW: Noa Mal – The Anatomy Of Emotional Hijacking
Written by Louis Pelingen Starting around 2019 and onwards, no one is putting in the amount of output that Noa Mal has churned out year after year. In other parts of the world, there are a lot of artists like Noa Mal wherein they’re getting a widespread reputation due to how many projects they can consistently release – think King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Viper, and the smattering of obscure electronic, folk, and black metal acts that have that artistic capacity to just brute force their way into a year with 3 or more projects done – looking into the local scene, there is no one like Noa Mal at this current moment. And despite carrying that sort of reputation might be interesting and outstanding to some, that can also be the kind of title that can get frustrating and lead to bigger expectations. Mostly because, with that brand of ‘quantity over quality’ release cycle being stretched over in the consecutive years, the worries surrounding sonic and thematic retreads; lack of surprises in the formula; and meager interest towards improvements across the board will come up more and can lead to going through that kind of discography to be daunting and may end up being less interesting when those boxes are ticked off. Now, after going through Noa Mal’s entire discography, the results can be a mixed blessing. While her brand of lo-fi grunge rock and slowcore comfort zone definitely mesh together easily – her gloomy topicality surrounding relationships and personal angst starts to get extremely thin due to her plain way of writing as well as persistent mixing and mastering issues that doesn’t allow the recordings to blend altogether – there are projects that do show her improving on the composition and production front. ‘Everything Is Science, Baby’ is a good starting point as it best represents Noa Mal’s sound across the board, which you can then follow up on her other 2022 released records like ‘My Corrupted Hard Drive’ that leans on the softer grunge and slowcore cuts and ‘Fear Fiction’ for some synth implementations that she’d eventually explore even further just this year with ‘Suspended Animation’. Going through with her tradition, ‘The Anatomy of Emotional Hijacking’ is her 3rd record that she released this 2023, just after the volume and banger heavy ‘Holy Hour’ and the synthetic drum and synth-inflected ‘Suspended Animation’. It continues to retain Noa Mal’s compositional strengths on the record, from the moody drenched ‘The Actress’ where Noa Mal’s prim vocal lines work well with the wavering guitar licks and percussion beats, the trudging indie rock of ‘Luci’ and ‘Deeply Tinted Glasses’ as the former staggers through due to the quicker flash of melodies alongside these carefree vocal lines and the latter coasts through grungier guitar lines that adds into the smoked out vibe of the track, the sunnier indie rock of ‘Dance For Me, Puppet!’ with the gliding vocal melodies amidst the stable fuzzy drums and brighter guitar lines, and the tempered acoustics of ‘Sepanx ka nanaman’ that brings an open space away from the numbness of the moment. As said before, with her writing surrounding numbing cycles of relationships and personal angst that has gotten stale that doesn’t give her a lot of favors at this point, the writing this time opens up Noa Mal’s writing scope as there are a couple of songs that provide more context towards the relationship that eventually fluctuates before it even started. The universal sorrow of ‘Luci’ that tackles the loss of everything and everyone as well as the social exhaustion of Noa Mal’s generation represented through Luci is an example of this that continues further with ‘Dance for me, Puppet!’ through the puppet metaphors as well as the glancing subtext of familial disappointment on certain tracks like ‘Intro: Hijacked’, ‘My Golden Town’, and ‘Sepanx Ka Nanaman’. These moments do add more to Noa Mal’s dulled-out relationship throughout the record like the tiring cycles of everyone showing her how to love on ‘The Actress’ which eventually colors how the numbness that she feels creates a different tone to the “love songs” of ‘The One Who Really…’ and ‘My Golden Town’. Songs may have this emotionally intimate tone to them, but given the context of social exhaustion from her peers and the personal dullness from all the cycling relationships, it’s now put into darker framing wherein Noa’s numbness has now bordered into irrationality, making the relationship an emotional hijacking that she eventually disposes away on ‘Sepanx Ka Nanaman’ and eventually succumbs to more layers of numbness that makes her feel free at the very end. Despite the strengths that Noa Mal has honed in on this record, the mixing of the record does get a bit uneven, more so the guitars and drums that do peak on the mix. While this issue does permeate on her 1st 2023 record, ‘Holy Hour’, it is at least consistent in terms of how loud it can be that does get compensated with punchy grunge melodies just flooding through and through, while ‘The Anatomy of Emotional Hijacking’ takes those grunge melodies with a sunny like flair that does need more balance on the mix. And despite her writing that does work a lot more in this record, it did stumble on ‘Angel of Romantic Death’ with the plainspoken metaphors that may show Noa Mal’s agency but just ends up being clunky as a result. But overall, ‘The Anatomy of Emotional Hijacking’ might not feel special in Noa Mal’s ever-growing discography at first glance even if the composition still does come off as developed, the writing and emotional throughline on the relationship Noa Mal is presenting here offers a different layer and side of her style and framing thus far. A lot more tangled and is paired with an extra set of context around it that does broaden Noa Mal’s skill as a writer given her plain style of writing hasn’t stuck out much in her past records. It’s very
ALBUM REVIEW: bird. – oshin
Written by Elijah P. 11 years after the release of dream pop and post-punk band from Brooklyn, New York’s DIIV, another band from the other side of the planet decides to name their debut album after the onomatopoeia of “ocean”. Enter Locked Down Entertainment’s bird. from Metro Manila, a 5-piece established by members from Chicosci, Save Me Hollywood, Musical O and Lindenwood. They’ve got experience and veteran status on their sleeve but as bird., they got a clean slate in the 10-track album “oshin”. The album sounds equal parts aquatic and desert-like; the former equipping drowned-out guitars and the latter chest-bumping percussion that has a high potential in clipping through the speakers. You might think that it’s balanced with all elements of the earth, but in reality it’s just 5 members showing off their surf tricks at the coast. That, in particular, is what made this band essential: surf music. But there’s more to it than just riding the waves and sitting by the beach side. Ever since their inception around early 2019, they’ve had “#vibecore” written all over their bios, but the album neither justifies the tag. They’re a step above what their descriptors are. There’s something that sounds incredibly wider production-wise – a lot more robust than any other tender-sounding band that gives off the weekend at the beach during peak season with the family. bird. doesn’t hold back its punchy rhythm sections, drummer Hannah’s tight performance, and vocalist Eco Del Rio’s ghostly presence. It’s all 100 percent from here. Significant highlights like “maria”, “Weekend”, “hardwood jack” and “the stranger” possess this kind of spiritual alternative rock taking over the musician’s astral plane while “Ride”, “san juan” and “sl” share the commonalities of being in a vacation. As mentioned before, there’s a balance to the self-confessional side of Eco Del Rio and the side of the band’s frolicking nature all the while kitting out the heavier guns at the studio. bird. is a culmination of everything that alternative rock has the potential to be locally: atmospheric, unserious, rugged, honest, and raw. SUPPORT THE ART & THE ARTIST:
ALBUM REVIEW: Alyson – DEFINITELY LOVE
Written by Kara Angan Metro Manila-based band Alyson shed their indie rock sound for Japanese city pop in their debut album ‘DEFINITELY LOVE!’. After sparse releases and landmark self-titled debut EP over the past years, the 5-piece band and their continuous championing of Ateneo’s music scene basically rebranded themselves; evoking the nostalgia of 80s Japanese fashion and music. The inspiration is clearly seen in the aesthetic surrounding the album—from the Japanese letters on the album cover to the fashion choices for their music videos for “Kiliti” and “Feel So Good” featuring beabu. At its core, this record is a faithful love letter to the genre and aesthetic. ‘DEFINITELY LOVE!’ opens with “Kiliti,” the band’s first single off the record. It starts off strong with a brass riff that introduces the overall feel of the album. Lead singer Pio Ligot’s voice is accented with backing vocals that continue the strong city pop influences of the LP. The upbeat, horn-led sound is consistent throughout the first half of the album. “My Love” and “Ginhawa” feels reminiscent of the sound off their 2018 EP, but with a stronger synth presence. The second half of the album opens with the second single, and arguably best track of the album, “Feels So Good” featuring beabu. The track evokes the spirit of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder-style 70s-80s pop ballads, and has the catchiest melody that becomes instant earworm-material. beabu’s lower register vocals is a great complement to Ligot’s falsettos. The bridge of the song is a solid climax as the two voices sing over each other, ending with beabu’s strong belt and Ligot’s riffs. The latter half of the album is the stronger of the two halves, featuring a more diverse-sounding set of songs. Aside from “Feels So Good,” “Summer Nights” open with a Japanese city pop-style spoken intro, “Fool” leans into 80s motown, “Babalik” opens with an a capella intro before segueing into the album’s prominent city pop sound, and “Underpass” is a strong record closer despite being a slower track compared to the rest of the album. It also includes Japanese dialogue during the interlude, which parallels their 2018 EP track “Telescope.” ‘DEFINITELY LOVE!’ is a cohesive-sounding album. However, this can be a double-edged sword—with the cohesion comes the pitfall of tracks sounding a tad too similar and borderline indistinguishable, such as the first three songs of the record. The latter half offers a better selection of diverse sounds, especially with strong tracks like “Feels So Good,” “Fool,” and “Underpass.” The city pop elements distinguish the band from their contemporaries, and is the proof of their more mature sound compared to their 2018 release. If the band continues to explore more of the 70s and 80s era music, it could offer more diverse and standout releases that still sound cohesive without being too similar in arrangement. Overall, this is a good debut album and a great reintroduction of Alyson to the local scene. Support the art & the artist: