BETRAYED
Why Must Everything Involve Politics?
THE quick answer is because man is a political animal. To paraphrase The Police: with every move he makes, man enters into the politics of love, success, competition, and as Betrayed’s new song puts across, “the challenge to stay alive.”
Betrayed released their debut album 32 years ago under DMZ Records put up by the guys behind the legendary A2Z Records shop. The band survives to this day with guitarist Buddy Trinidad stepping up front on lead vocals after original vocalist Domeng “Papa Dom” Gamboa passed away a few years ago, and new member Ed Ramos pumping it up on bass. As the new album bears out, original drummer Manny Pagsuyuin and guitarist Boyet Miguel more than make up for whatever trials three decades have thrown on them along the way.
A critic once wrote that punks tried to counter rock and roll by playing rock and roll—only terribly. That’s a fallacy at least in the case of The Clash then and Betrayed now. In their first release, Betrayed played punk under the influence of US hardcore bands like Circle Jerks and Black Flag. This time around on their sophomore album produced by the band themselves and Ian Cuevas, the debts to the Ramones and Stiff Little Fingers—classic punks on both sides of the Atlantic—are obvious.
The trump card, to these ears however, is the clutch of guitar leads that dates back (then amped up) from the primordial wiry chords of the late great Scottie Moore, Elvis Presley’s guitarist on the rockabilly classic Sun Sessions. Some things from the cradle of rock and roll can’t be that terrible, do they?
Trinidad downscales Gamboa’s definitive on-the-verge-of-a-howl delivery, replacing it with a kind of distinctive clean singing so the lyrics ring clear almost all the time. The songs maintain the anti-authority stance of the younger Betrayed, and a few of the newer ones appear to reflect recent tragedies. Caught In The Crossfire calls to mind the SAF 44 carnage, or the Marawi siege. Terror Is could be referring to the human rights violations of the “right” and the “left.” Lifeless bodies on the streets invokes nightmares from the latest war on drugs. Never Again however might raise the yellow bogey in these politically-blackened times. Despite its title, Betrayed’s new album betrays different facets of the political lay of the land in the present tense.
Remakes from the first album in Where Has Love Gone? and Caught In The Crossfire still manage to grab you with their undeniable hooks and melodies. Fire, Doin’ Time and The Answer Is You must have evolved from the same template. Betrayed’s “Why Must Everything Involve Politics?” will shake up sensible millennials from the long night of indifference.
LION AND THE SCOUTS
(Self-titled)
THE dynamic of mixing warm folk music with the swirl of troubles is the charm that makes reggae ensemble Lion and the Scouts more than a retread of better-known outfits. In fact, the seven-member Pinoy group kicks ass where other rock-steady crews screw their listeners with limp paeans to happy times or with execrable lovers’ rock.
There’s nothing wrong with reggae pop or love ballads. The difference is in the slow-moving Pilipinas Get Up, Lion and the Scouts exhort the landless, the unsung heroes and helpless children not to give up. On the other hand, the garage- rocking A Cup of Coffee simply sells the pleasant idea that a cup of coffee on a brand-new day puts the bad vibes away.
But they can also get pretty serious, turning “Ano Ang Nakabalot sa Papel” into an advice to never judge others by their disheveled appearance, while “Kalayaan,” despite its botched lyricism, suggests that people have forgotten to treasure freedom.
All original compositions, the songs on Lion and the Scouts’ debut is fueled by breezy Caribbean reggae, but the band manages to insert hard rock guitars on For How Long, a tribal jam on “Ano Ang Nakabalot…” and nice pure pop touch to Summer Love. So never mind the copycat bollocks… Here’s Pinoy reggae with a Scouter’s badge of ingenuity.
BASICALLY SATURDAY NIGHT
(Self-Titled)
FOR some reason, this five-song album raises the ghost of Shiela and the Insects. The vocals have that rich dark tone that portends of secrets and misdemeanor. Where Sheila and the Insects does indie rock, five-piece Basically Saturday Night, Wanderland’s Wanderband for 2018, offers an indie dance flip to the neo disco of their contemporaries like IV of Spades.
What’s That Driving Song? is a wonderland of sounds reanimating the rock, jazz and magnetic appeal of a Steely Dan song, at the very least the solo efforts of the departed Donald Fagen. The rest of the EP are bits and pieces of the driving song—albeit livelier and more straightforward. Chemical Love, a cool title that hints of ‘50s bohemia, starts with industrial palpitation then eventually cruises to ‘70s disco and slides to a whirl of the latter decade’s funk and R&B; while El Poder is all of these genres compartmentalized into sections of dance gaiety and mock rock seriousness.
“Maybe the future isn’t clear,” it says in Runaway. Dunno about that. Basically Saturday Night is a rising bright star, and you gotta wear shades to watch them take flight.
WORKSHY
The Golden Mile
A GOLDEN MILE is defined as the district of bars and taverns that gets visited during a pub-crawl. One would expect its musical equivalent to capture the initial rowdy fun and the ensuing boisterous inebriation that happens in such a long stretch.
Workshy’s debut release is however rather timid on the pleasure of a drinking spree. Instead, the album’s mix of bossa nova, light jazz and cool pop adds up to an after midnight come-down when the pub’s an hour away to closing time or a soundtrack in posh hotel rooms where drunken patrons have adjourned to get some physical love.
Todd Rundgren’s I Saw The Light gets a sprightly pop treatment; Lately goes swinging; the bittersweet You’re The Summer blends girl group harmonies with samba; and Bewitchedhints of French chanson. In all, Golden Mile is a defining moment for smooth jazz (or is it soft rock now?). (Workshy serenades their faithful live on August 10 at The Theatre at Solaire Resort, Manila.)