Written by Nikolai Dineros Elev8 Me L8r has no shortage of young, explosive rock-oriented bands to their name, but Goon Lagoon’s unapologetic take on grunge harkening back to the genre’s ‘90s roots proves to be their one defining aspect. The last couple of years has also shown us bits and pieces of what the band has going for with their sound (with varying degrees of success), with 2022’s Machine Gun being their most notable. In one of our previous reviews, we highlighted the song for its off-kilter motif and chaotic twists and turns. Now, with the release of Rocket Peace, Goon Lagoon’s identity is much clearer — and what used to be the band’s best work is now a part of something bigger. As the Goon Lagoon hype ele8ed (sorry) with gig announcements alongside this EP launch, so did Machine Gun’s cult fame, while a slightly superior Down The Drain seeped through the cracks as the band’s best material to date. “Down the Drain” is in-your-face in almost every way, with its muffled vocals, infectious riff, and drowning levels of flangers. Amid the chaos and noise, the songs in Rocket Peace have a lullaby quality reminiscent of Sonic Youth, with guitar solos and synths aplenty. This is especially the case with the closing track “Pocket Grease,” which I assume is a wordplay on the record’s name or the other way around. ‘Rocket Peace’ is so full of surprises that it’s almost criminal of me to include that in this review, as the EP’s explosiveness is what the record is built upon; each surprise comes when you least expect them. And when they do, they hit you at just the right spot. SUPPORT THE ART & THE ARTIST:
Tag: alternative rock
ALBUM REVIEW: OH, FLAMINGO! – PAGTANDA
Written by Nikolai Dineros A friend of mine once said, “Oh, Flamingo! is the definitive OPM band of this age.” It’s a thought that has since been stuck at the peripheries of my brain. I wonder if my friend was onto something or if it was just the alcohol talking. Oh, Flamingo! was at a critical juncture at the time: the release of their sophomore EP Volumes saw the band deviating from the brazen, indie-textured 2000s pop-rock sound in favor of a trippier, more visceral psychedelic rock motif — something up the alleys of the titos and titas. While it might not have been the cup of tea of every Oh, Flamingo! fan at the time, Volumes was a welcoming treat. I left the record thinking that the band was cooking something up for their first full-length release. And they did, but not in the way that I had anticipated. Enter Pagtanda, Oh, Flamingo!’s first full-length album, and their most introspective release yet. What I thought to be the band’s culmination of their seven-year run of wacky concepts and sonic experimentations turned out to be a recollection of the human pathos, funneled by the members’ own experiences expressed through song. On the surface, Pagtanda is their most straightforward record to date. It carries heavily from its mid-’70s to ‘90s influences — the Manila sound — and proudly wears it on its sleeves. The guitars are more subdued this time around, which gave more room for the keyboards and the brass sections to shine, but guitarists Pappu de Leon and Howard Luistro still have their moments every now and then. Drummer Pat Sarabia and bassist Billie Zulueta (who also took on a more active role as a singer) are still the strong backbones of the band, often providing that trademark groove from which the other members get their momentum. The songs on Pagtanda are more downtrodden than they have ever been for the band. At times, they even get existential with the lyrics as they chronicle every point of loss and regret as one trudges the early stages of adulthood. The opening track “Makina” takes you on a trip down anxiety lane, away from the mundanity of life. In “Na Naman”, Howard and Billie sing of the shame and resentment a person would feel from being trapped in the vicious cycle of a toxic relationship. “Sa Totoo Lang” deals with a lot of heavy stuff — inner struggles, fear of the unknown, and coming to terms with one’s mortality. It also sounds like a proper OPM anthem in the ‘90s. How so, I’m not sure myself. Batang ‘90s lang nakakaalam! (I am Gen-Z) “Pag-ibig Lang Ba,” for how off-kilter its riff gets, posits a philosophical question many young adults have probably come across at least once in their lives. “Galit” is a personal favorite of mine. I couldn’t count how many times I have bobbed my head to its bubbly ‘70s funk groove and Pappu’s excellent riffage while humming about contempt and betrayal. A mood. But for how bleak some of these moments are in Pagtanda, it never felt out of place. Nothing from Oh, Flamingo!’s limited but already colorful discography has. “Sigurado” is a teaser track memorable not only for capturing the Manila sound’s sweetest pop sensibilities but also for what it stands for. The song is a love letter to our fur babies and their strong bond with their respective hoomans. The lyrics will surely tug your heartstrings if you haven’t heard it yet (Seriously, why? You’re missing out!). And while you’re at it, share this tune with your lola. Tell her you’re welcome. Pagtanda is a record of self-reflection and change. Stylistically, the album is Oh, Flamingo’s most toned-down. It was not the return to form to the eponymous EP or the evolution of Volumes I had anticipated from a band my friend thought of as “definitive OPM”. Rather, Pagtanda is the enclosure Oh, Flamingo! needed to complete their trifecta of artistic growth — from ambitious beginnings to wild, deviant phases, and to a tranquil point of maturity. This three-record run is a framework that encapsulates the human experience, and Oh, Flamingo! nailed the ending perfectly with Pagtanda. This is not to say the band should stop making more albums to ruin this excellent run. But if there is a legacy they can leave behind, it is their diverse catalogue of songs capturing the OPM sound that stands as an impetus to the experiences many can relate to, regardless of age and circumstance. Also, I think my friend was a genius all along. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: Sunkissed Lola – White Toyota
Written by Elijah P. Olongapo’s sole funky, alternative rock troupe Sunkissed Lola are to watch out for in the new batch of bands in the 2020s. From being introduced by Kiyo in more intimate gigs to being one of Wish 107.5’s most sought-after artists in terms of virality, Sunkissed Lola are aiming to get out of their hometown to hit the big leagues. But with their latest arsenal consisting of an impeccable drummer and backup vocalist in the stable, the problem in Sunkissed Lola still lies in the style of their direction and their vocal performances. If the listener were to open their ears again, looking for another infectious hook in their material, the process of realization would stem from hometown heroes with nothing to lose to hometown big leagues with generic taste in hand. After the hit viral single that is “Pasilyo”, Sunkissed Lola are to double down in the genericness of it by opening the year with “White Toyota”. In their new single, Sunkissed Lola personifies the breezy summer afternoons and a knack for guitar licks that takes the funk outside by the shore. Still, the sore thumb in all of this isn’t just their current sonic palette (even their contemporaries like The Ridleys, Over October or even Lola Amour could make slightly more tolerable commercial music). Sunkissed Lola launches an all-out attack on the funkrock genre, only to be sacrificed by sounding like a car sponsorship out of nowhere – minus all the fun and the glamor of it all. “White Toyota” doesn’t just scream mid but rather: Sunkissed Lola and “White Toyota” work together as a humid product of pop that’s barely reached the surface of memorability in terms of catchy songwriting. “White Toyota” has all the potential to be Sunkissed Lola’s second breakout, but the single only works if your uncle would test out the radio if the brand new Toyota Vios works for background music. Support the art & the artist:
ALBUM REVIEW: Cheats – Houseplants
Written by Elijah P. After almost 5 years since their last album “Before The Babies”, alternative-rock 7-piece Cheats talk about everything that’s past after their sophomore album; everything that’s past the lockdown, and everything that’s past the grieving process in their latest album titled “Houseplants”. Housing over 12 tracks and running over at 49 minutes, it took a while for the band to let the songs they’ve written for this album to sit and simmer. Let alone some songs were written when their members were facing turbulent times of their lives, even pre-pandemic. If their debut was a honeymoon period for indie rockers and their denim jackets, “Before the Babies” were the millennial anthems and wishes that could’ve been, then “Houseplants” is a culmination of the band’s chemistry, both as a musician and non-musician perspective. Although lengthier and front-loaded than their previous albums, Cheats hold no punches when it comes to writing lines about appealing to a lover, asking for someone to stay even longer or to survive in a tragic event, and so on and so forth. “Houseplants” has all members grow artistically not just individually but also as a unit, especially for the tandem of vocalists Candy Gamos and Saab Magalona-Bacarro; Their layered vocals hit the notes on top of every single textured guitar riffage, possessing every bit of melody that’s been in the playbook of pop songwriting while surfing on a Broken Social Scene-esque template. In tracks like “Cans”, “Honey Calm Down”, “Kapit” and “Hakbang”, vocals shine throughout the entirety of its runtime, gracefully singing every anthemic hook after hook. “Not To Be Alone” and “Cake” are slower and gritty drum machine-assisted tracks where rhythm guitars shine the most. “Houseplants” has it all balanced to a T. But maybe those benefits won’t be able to weigh the actual length that it goes to finish the album in one sitting. Some tracks like Snooze (Pinto) and “Cashier Club” are slightly meandering and should’ve been cut from the album overall due to its least powerful performances, mostly caused by the anthemic and compelling tracks that come before them. Surprisingly enough, frontman Jim Bacarro takes a bit of a backseat in leading the album vocal-wise. And another surprise to mention is Johnoy’s Danao “Morning After” performance, calling back to The National’s Matt Berninger due to their brooding vocal tone. Overall, Cheats’ latest offering is a product of the band’s 2-year long wait. It all had the pros of a Cheats song: fuzzed-out guitars ringing in the back, commanding percussion leading the way and most importantly the three vocalists trading every line like it was a sport. And the cons are either the band not slightly surpassing the fervor of the previous albums or the performances that didn’t show any riskier moves or soundscapes. But this was an album or rather a period where everyone took their time to live a little, surviving most of the time. Then you have “Houseplants”, an album that could’ve been released any other time, but instead, it was released at a time where we wanted it the most. Support the art & the artist: