The appeal of indie music for a good number of those who listen to the ‘genre’ is the great deal of honesty and the crafty musicianship that goes behind each song. Each track is a reflection of the freewheeling spirit that defines being indie. They may not be allied with a major label, but Hellogoodbye is certainly a force to be reckoned with in the field of social media. With almost half a million fans from all over the world, these guys from California have certainly made a good name for themselves.

Their new album Would It Kill You? is being pushed locally by Lilystars Records – a label that has the great goal of making indie (as well as other lesser known genres) more accessible to Filipinos. (more…)

Enemies of Saturn creates music that is part throw-back but still very fresh for the current scene. The band captures the spirit of rock music that is both hard-hitting enough to get your heart pumping yet sensual enough to make you want to move to the beat and feel the music even if you’re hearing a track for the first time. Their songs just have an innate ability to permeate through space and time without being too esoteric – in fact, it’s the exact opposite; the songs from their first album feel quite visceral in terms of appeal.

If you’ve been listening to NU107 years before they closed shop, you would have probably heard ‘Bigayan’ – the band’s biggest hit on mainstream radio. It’s a very catchy collaboration of funky beats and crunchy riffs that just has dance floor filler written all over it. There’s no way that you’re going to listen to this track sitting down. Coupled with the very suggestive lyrics, it’s definitely a recipe for a very good night – or at least a great story for the morning after.

The song ‘Mushroom Stomp’ also delivers the same punch and the underground seems to agree – it is easily among the band’s better received tracks in the local circuit. It’s very obvious as to why this is a crowd pleaser – just like the opening track, ‘Mushroom Stomp’ will definitely get butts off seats in a gig venue.

The band takes a break and goes on a more delicate route with ‘Descent’. There’s something very ethereal with the musical and vocal treatments in the song and this makes the experience of listening to it such a soothing experience. The song is a triumph in combining the feeling of yearning, obsession and even a little bit of desperation fit in a very gorgeous package.

“Charger” takes on a very bass-driven melody that embraces a more funky approach to songwriting. It’s certainly explores the music that great bands like P.O.T. and Kapatid have explored but not fully fleshed out during their existence as awesome creative entities. There’s definitely a market for music like this and it’s great that Enemies of Saturn is here to produce great tunes and indirectly educate people by expanding their musical horizons.

Enemies of Saturn is a very tight unit that packs a punch that’s somehow married with copious amount of musical libido and testosterone powered hard rock. It’s a very scary combination… for people who hate good music. Give these guys a spin, you won’t regret it.

Youth and the desperate attempt to bottle and contain it has always been and enduring theme among music artists. Many have gone the manic depressive route and wrote very heavy and dark songs that mourn each day that adds to aging while there are artists who revel in the idea that it’s all in the mind.

Enter Subscapular and their new album We Are Kids Forever; the band describes itself as “experimental rock alternative pop” on their Facebook page and the label is definitely consistent with how the new album sounds. There is something vaguely familiar with the way Subscapular sounds but there’s a very strong sense of individuality in the music as well. There are elements of punk, classic rock and hard rock that peek out of the rich musical landscape that the band has been able to lay out for their listeners to explore. (more…)

The Late Isabel made heads turn when they released Doll’s Head almost half a decade ago and while it wasn’t exactly mainstream fodder, it was surprising to hear the sheer amount of people who have found the album to be very refreshing. Five years later, the band is still at it and while the darkness in the music is still palpable, there’s definitely a lot of grit added to the mix. The band did take a while before they released a follow up EP but it really feels like The Late Isabel produced something special with Lackadaisical.

The title track ‘Lackadaisical’ has a very dirge-like rhythm that just drones out for the rest of the song. There’s an almost hypnotic quality to the song that’s makes the track achieve what it seems to want to achieve from the get go – create a mood instead of just being a collection of sounds.

Wawi Navarroza takes over vocals duty once again for the second track ‘Isabel The Damaged’ that has a very good contrast from ‘Lackadaiscal’. While still evoking a very dark feel, the song does manage to sound upbeat and gritty at the same time. If the first track was successful in making your spirit weigh hundreds of pounds, ‘Isabel The Damned’ would make you want to move and listen to what happens to the story of Isabel after she approaches the fateful water tower. There’s something that needs to be said for a band that could pull off sounding dark but at the same time creating music that most people would want to move to.

‘Tinstick Romance’ takes off from where ‘Isabel The Damned’ ends. It once again captures the musical dynamism that seems to be the underlying theme of the album contrasted with relatively dark lyrics. The song transports you to a very aurally-heavy place that seems very familiar but at the same time feels very new, novel and somehow alien.

The fourth track ‘Imperial’ sticks out with a very distinct progression that’s set to an almost pentatonic rhythm. The mood does change quickly though as the song lends itself to the prevalent theme of The Late Isabel – the familiar feel of darkness and doom that is somehow faced with gutsiness and reckless abandon. There’s an air of impending doom but there’s a tongue-in-cheek approach to the apparent seriousness of it all.

The last track ‘Midnight City’ captures the faint cries of an aimless soul wandering through a cold ubran landscape. It’s hauntingly beautiful and it definitely relates the feeling of a humdrum existence that a creature of the night would probably experience. It’s a perfect ending to a very solid compilation that would definitely want you asking for more.

The Late Isabel is definitely one of those bands that you would wish could come up with a full-length album. The band will be going on semi-hiatus with Wawi going to Europe for her studies and while five tracks may not cut it as far as quelling for the longing is concerned, Lackadaisical will probably come very close to doing so.