DURING a conversation with Jon “Fishbone” Gonzales of punk band Bad Omen, he informed SoundStrip that nowadays, the preferred choice of bands to release their material is either through vinyl or cassette.
By now, everyone has heard about the vinyl revival that has been going on for the past six or seven years.
As for cassettes, it’s amazing. Yes, they’re back.
I heard the same thing as well from Sickos Records impresario Bam Sickos. In fact, the only time he gets to sell his CD releases is when he bundles them with merchandise such as T-shirts.
Having said that, here are two new releases from a local artist and a foreign-based band:
No Palabras (Reyerta)
The second album of this power violence band from Singapore that is two-parts Spanish and two-parts Filipino. The Pinoy contingent includes bassist Gwen Cañete (who also plays lead guitar with Singaporean thrash metal band Tormentress), and guitarist Ruel who is based in Malaysia.
Reyerta, which means “quarrel” in Spanish, released their self-titled album in October 2017 on cassette. Six months later, the band issued their sophomore outing entitled, No Palabras (roughly meaning, “no words”) also on the same format.
Well, No Palabras is a handful even if the longest track clocks in at a total of 1 minute, 24 seconds! Yes, the songs—just like the ones in the self-titled debut—are brutally short. Forget lyrical poignancy. This type of extreme music eschews that. No Palabras features eight angry songs that question and declare one’s independence from the world that suffocates them into indifference and silence.
In fact, Spanish lead singer Carmen digs up the curious and sensational case of John and Lorena Bobbitt (wherein the latter cut off her husband’s tool in a fit of rage after allegedly being raped) in a song simply entitled—and probably misspelled —Bobbit. Carmen channels Lorena with a rage: “Your inferiority disguised in brutality./ It will not touch me./ It will not shut me up./ The power of your reason will not shut me up.”
Dagnabit!
And that is the tip of the iceberg. No Palabras is one brutal and angry album, but it is more powerful and focused. Perhaps, the band has gotten used to playing with one another. Whatever it is, the songs remain at a blistering pace.
Check out local distros Delusion of Terror, Sickos Records, and Still Ill Records on Facebook for copies of Reyerta’s cassette albums.
Someday We Will Rule the Universe (Memoryville)
Memoryville is taking Tears For Fears several steps further (yes—the Bath, England duo who had a worldwide hit in Everybody Wants to Rule the World). As for Kurvine Chua aka Memoryville, he hatched a plot with his debut four-track EP, Someday We Will Rule the Universe.
And this cassette EP will rule your new wave heart. Chua mines the past with his work. In fact, when I first met up with him, he was wearing a Talking Heads ’77 t-shirt. Now listening to his solo outing “Someday…” I am reminded of Howard Jones, early Depeche Mode, Heaven 17, and other synth-purveyors of the new wave era with a mien for gloom and dance. He clearly gets the music, and his backtracking not only pays homage, but also takes this “bedroom dream pop” to another level.
This is something you play when the world around you is quiet. Trust me— you will appreciate it better. It is available in both CD and cassette from United Cassettes Philippines. The tape costs P370 pesos. Check them out on Facebook.