There are those who make music to entertain, to pamper your pleasure center, to maintain the way things are. And there are musicians who create so-called alternative music that does not follow the conventions of live, love, laugh in their imaginative yet roaring creations. Then there are those who’d rather upset the apple cart to sound the alarm that something’s horribly wrong about the way things have become.
In the wake of the unpredictable Covid-19 pandemic, the up-setters are slithering out of the woodwork and making their presence felt from the sidelines. We give voice and space to what fires up their unconventional minds.
THE EXSENADORS
This five-piece Pinoy punk band declares that they’re anti-fascist band from Quezon City. Their debut full-length titled ‘Heartlessness And The Systematic Perpetuation Of Despair’ is a catalog of songs with harsh titles like “Dead Bodies,” “Executioner.” “Endless Struggle” and “Dahas.”
In a PM to Soundstrip, the band said the album title is a summary criticism of the current regime which perpetuates hopelessness through its oppressive anti-poor machinery. Lyrics such as “The bloodshed continues and who’s giving the order?” and “Grasp well the bladed songs, oppose and defeat oppression” blend well with the trio’s firm grasp of punk rock, Oi! and hardcore.
But The Exsenadors aren’t exactly out to burn down everything in musical rage and lyrical spite. They said they’re using mid-tempo rockers as fillers in between loud fast tracks so their listeners won’t easily get bored. So they’ve got a couple of love song sounding cuts and a tune about making bike lanes safe.
ANTIPARA
Four-man band Antipara. released a single titled “Patalsikin Na Yan” and the immediate reaction is that it has to be about kicking out the biggest political prick of them all in this damned land. On their social media page, Antipara stated that their new song is “Para sa lahat ng trapo, kurakot at ginagawang negosyo ang posisyon sa gobyerno!”
Their subsequent PM to Soundstrip further clarified, “We’re just here to voice out yung mga hinaing ng mga Pilipino sa bansa natin. Yung inspiration namin sa “Patalsikin Na Yan” ay galing sa iba’t-ibang klase ng estado ng bawat Pilipino, tulad namin.
“Ang government naman ever since hindi sila flawless, We are not pro or anti. Hindi siya one sided story. there is more to it.”
They also said their song simply expressed their fervent wish for changes in a rotten system that consistently corrupts anybody, saint or sinner, put in charge of it.
PANDAY SINING MUSIC COLLECTIVE
There’s not much detail the Collective’s bandcamp page but their social media page says a lot about their political persuasion, which does not fall strictly under the DDS or Dilawan side of the political divide. Their 2021 EP named “Kontrapulis” tells a lot more right from the title about their feelings towards mainstream society, especially the so-called protectors of civilians,
The tracks on the EP tackle more than the police in our midst. Album opener “Salapi” takes on labor issues while its closer “Mayday” resurrects the three “isms” (e.g. imperialism and so on) that have bedeviled this country from a Marxist viewpoint. Sandwiched between them, the triad “Makiakab,” “Tiktok” and “Basta Pulis Ekis” exposes the illegal and often deadly operations of what the Police General usually calls the few rotten eggs among the dedicated and honest national police force. In real life, the album actually looks inspired by recent headlines minus the daily Covid-19 dread.
DICTA LICENSE
“Pagbigkas,” the new album from Dicta License, comes out after a 16-year wait for a follow-up to the trio’s acclaimed debut. The sophomore release has been variously described as “more than a return to form” and “a long-overdue album that confronts and comforts.”
The group’s confrontational element goes out right at the starting track, “Bagong Bayani.” where over a thudding drum and bass, a dare is issued “Hinahamon ng panahon, sinong tutugon?/ Nasisindak sa sigaw, henerasyon na hilaw, nasan na ba (Mga bagong bayani)”
A parallel sentiment is echoed in “Salita,” Amid a blast of insistent pounding, the frontman asks, ““Tumahimik ka na lang, ano ba’ng naitulong mo? Akala mo kung sino, ano bang naiambag mo?” It’s a challenge to those who’d rather sit on the sidelines while human rights violations and murders most foul go unchecked almost every day.
Some kind of comfort is offered by excerpts from Fr. Albert Alejo’s spoken-word “Sanayan Lang ang Pagpatay’ and Jose W. Diokno’s ‘A Nation For Our Children’ speech. Then again, they provide uneasy breathing space because they cast a grim portent on a nation where murder is a profession and children are constantly at risk.