Tag: Paolo Elwick

  • EP REVIEW: Panjia – Astroboy

    Written by Paolo Elwick

    Shaun Alina’s Metro Manila-based alt rock outfit Panjia returns with their second EP ‘Astroboy,’ a sharper, more focused follow-up to their 2023 EP ‘all the colors that make you!!!’ Across the four-track project, the band paddles deeper into the waters of shoegaze and noise rock with a dense, feedback-heavy sound that feels both abrasive and vulnerable. The result is an EP that perfectly captures the kind of exhaustion that comes from living in a crowded city where everything feels too loud, too fast, and emotionally distant all at once.

    From the explosive, almost-cinematic intro that is “Rat Attack on Metro Manila!!!” to the relentless onslaught of drums on “Nauubusan Nanaman Ng Pagmamahal Si Belinda,” Astroboy is clearly built on a foundation of tension. And this is most evident when guitars crash through layers of distortion to create textured riffs that feel like the sonic equivalent of running your hands across concrete—which is exactly what makes the EP work. The distortion isn’t just there for aesthetic or shock value, it’s actually embedded into the storytelling itself. 

    The use of repetition, feedback, and grating instrumentals all come together to stage a sonic atmosphere that feels suffocating in a way that mirrors the emotional and physical fatigue of the urban day-to-day experience. But even at its most chaotic, the EP never feels directionless because the three-man group understands how to control momentum, allowing tracks to swell, collapse, and breathe without losing any weight. At times, the songs even feel like they’re on the verge of imploding or falling apart, but that instability is exactly what makes Astroboy exciting.

    It’s also no surprise that underneath all the noise and texture is a generous amount of vulnerability. Whether through melodies or personal lines buried underneath rough riffs and distorted strings like “Can’t you see / That I am not / Whoever you / Must think I am” from the closing track “Astroboy,” Panjia consistently finds a way to make chaos feel human by injecting softness and vulnerability into the harsh walls of sound they create.

    For a project with a run time of just over 13 minutes, ‘Astroboy’ is remarkably cohesive. Panjia captures the overwhelming nature of modern life without overexplaining it, trusting texture and atmosphere to communicate what words often can’t, creating an EP that’s loud, restless, and emotionally worn down—but also deeply alive.

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  • ALBUM REVIEW: dreaming blue flowers – endomorphins

    ALBUM REVIEW: dreaming blue flowers – endomorphins

    Written by Paolo Elwick

    Since introducing themselves with “Do(es) I(t) Matter?” at 123Block on June 21, 2024, dreaming blue flowers has bloomed into one of the more emotionally resonant acts in the local indie scene with songs rooted in vulnerability, introspection, and atmosphere. For members Lissia Ciel, Hannah Angelica, and Kern, that sensibility fully manifests on ‘endomorphin’, a mellow and melancholic debut effort that puts the lingering ache of heartbreak into words and notes before it slowly fades into memory.

    Setting the scene is a set of instrumentals either knee-deep in keys or swimming in strings — both, however, are excellent foundations that allow Lissia Ciel’s soft yet seemingly distant vocals to shine. The three-member indie folk band then adds a layer of vulnerability through lyrics like “I will find a way / to get through the maze / of failure to feel oneself / on countless days” from the title track “endomorphin”. While heartbreak remains the album’s emotional anchor, its songs are equally concerned with the aftermath of loss — the guilt, self-doubt, and emotional exhaustion that naturally accompany the end of any meaningful relationship. Across the album’s 43-minute runtime, these feelings seamlessly shift from wounds to reflections, making it clear that endomorphin is an exploration of how people carry pain, not how they get over it. 

    The arrangements reinforce that emotional weight by slowly unfolding, layer by layer, allowing pianos, strings, and percussion to thrust those emotions into the spotlight. This is particularly effective on “breath of life,” where the gentle instrumental mirrors the search for belonging amidst uncertainty with bright highs and muted lows, while “spaces between” starts mellow before eventually ramping up into a riff to represent the stress of wrestling with the painful realization that some relationships cannot be held together by effort alone.

    For both tracks, the drums are noticeable, but they rarely demand attention—instead, they serve to subtly shift momentum, while the strings and keys act as emotional cues that guide listeners through the album’s many moments of reflection. Even the vocals, echoing and softly drifting throughout the project’s runtime, contribute to this sense of restraint by creating distance that pairs well with the album’s introspective nature. In the process, everything comes together cohesively for an ephemeral, dream-like experience — something that isn’t always a given for full-length debuts, especially from burgeoning bands. But dreaming blue flowers seems surprisingly aware of who they want to be and the sound that they want to make.

    While having a clear identity is mostly positive, the songs on ‘endomorphin’ can sometimes feel too cohesive, often blending into one another with too much ease as if they’re one 40-something-minute song. The same patience that gives the album its dream-like quality also means that the songs often unfold in similar ways, with soft vocals, strings, keys, and adjacent themes occupying much of the same space. As a result, certain tracks sometimes blur together over the album’s runtime. For more present listeners, this might not be an issue, but this project rewards a listener who’s fully present with an immersive experience filled with nuggets of emotion, warmth, and depth.

    And maybe that’s exactly the point. Much like the memories and emotions it draws from, ‘endomorphin’ rarely arrives in sharp focus. Instead, it drifts between moments of clarity and haze, allowing heartbreak, regret, and longing to bleed into one another until they become inseparable. In doing so, dreaming blue flowers puts into sound a difficult truth about healing: our wounds never fully go away — they simply become part of the lives we live.

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  • TRACK REVIEW: School Girl Classic – Tomorrow

    TRACK REVIEW: School Girl Classic – Tomorrow

    Written by Paolo Elwick

    Tomorrow usually doesn’t take long to arrive, but for fans of Cebu-based indie rock band School Girl Classic, it took six years before “Tomorrow.”

    During this period, the band’s members went their separate ways: one moved hundreds of kilometers away, another now plays for multiple other bands, and one is balancing a career in design while still making music. But as each carved out their own path, the future of School Girl Classic turned uncertain. And yet, even as the band drifted apart, the voice at the center of their music still stayed the same—Hana, the fictional schoolgirl through whose eyes their stories have always been told. She has always been the band’s narrator and mirror, a medium to communicate the relatable uncertainty that comes with growing up. In many ways, her story feels inseparable from the band’s own, making their return with “Tomorrow” not just about picking up where they left off, but about revisiting a character who, like them, has had plenty of time to change.

    Their growth is given the opportunity to shine through the single’s lyricism. On the one hand, it reads like a conversation with an old friend, full of updates, questions, and reminders. But on the other, it builds a harmonic mantra through tasteful repetition. Together, these give the song a friendly and approachable sense of familiarity that perfectly matches the instrumental’s various emotional ebbs and flows. And with a laidback drum loop as the steady foundation, the strings are given ample space to shine with riffs that build rhythm, and licks that emphasize and stress like sonic punctuation marks. 

    But “Tomorrow” isn’t just about growth; it’s also the band’s honest thoughts on time, waiting, and coming back—letting listeners know through Hana that the years in between their releases don’t just feel like gaps that they’re rushing to fill. The band chooses to acknowledge the distance, the change, and the uncertainty that have shaped who they are now.

    In the end, School Girl Classic’s “Tomorrow” is a reminder that coming back doesn’t mean returning to the exact same place. Things have shifted, people have grown, and even Hana, the fictional schoolgirl, now speaks with a little more clarity and intention. Waiting, then, becomes part of the story rather than something separate from it. With that in mind, “Tomorrow” feels less like a comeback and more like a continuation—just one that took its time to arrive.

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  • TRACK REVIEW: Hijo – Ain’t Got What I Got

    TRACK REVIEW: Hijo – Ain’t Got What I Got

    Written by Paolo Elwick

    After the viral success that is “Sorbet,” DJ and hip-hop artist Hijo continues to prove that he’s more than just your average internet influencer. With club-ready beats, earworm hooks, and playful, sometimes out-of-pocket TikTok videos, Hijo has steadily built a reputation as both a standout performer and a digital personality. Now, he’s back to keep the energy high with another club anthem — this time enlisting rap collective Fresh-iLL Club for the bouncy “Ain’t Got What I Got”.

    Much like his previous release, “Ain’t Got What I Got” is an animated track overflowing with the energy you’d expect from Hijo and his vibrant personality. With an instrumental that blends booming drums, triumphant horns, and dynamic adlibs, it feels like a fresher, funkier tribute to the boom bap style. And much like the emcees who’ve championed boom bap in the past, Hijo is bombastic and in-your-face from the jump, delivering an unapologetic PSA to dance as he proudly proclaims, “If you ain’t shaking ass, get the fuck off the dance floor.” 

    The verses that follow share the same bold bravado as Hijo begins trading bars with the diverse cast of Fresh-iLL Club. While the former feels perfectly at home on the track, some members of the latter lack the energy and presence to survive the beat’s punching onslaught. As a result, the energy of the track can sometimes peak before cratering. The good thing, however, is that it doesn’t take long for the track to get its groove back. Before you realize it, you’re probably already back shaking ass on the dance floor.

    And that’s where “Ain’t Got What I Got” shines — it’s a hypnotic anthem that builds on Hijo’s natural magnetism and presence to create a track that brings funk, energy, and braggadocio to the parties and dance floors of Manila’s lively nightlife. But more than just that, it captures the city’s after-hours pulse by pairing swagger with an infectious bounce that feels impossible to resist. And in the process, Hijo cements his place in the local music scene as an artist who understands exactly how to move a crowd digitally and in real life, by consistently turning his charisma and instinct for high-energy records into tracks that resonate with audiences far beyond algorithms. So if you frequent these spaces, get ready to hit the dance floor because Hijo isn’t waiting for you to stay still.

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