Dark Himaya

We bring together lyrics that express the melancholic truth about being human, harmonizing vocals, expressive yet ambient guitars, haunting piano and atmospheric synth sounds. The deep, melodious bass notes and pulsing heartbeat of the drums give the songs structure, and tie all these elements together to create music that will bring your soul to places forgotten.

Dark Himaya was formed April 2009 with Ivy Fernie (vocals/guitar), Aileen Alonzo (vocals/keyboard), Alejandro Dini (bass), and Tatsuya Dayte helping us on drums. We are your guide throughout your journey through the soundscapes of Himaya.

Dark Himaya just released their new album ‘Breaking the Spell’ and also now available on line! Website: www.darkhimaya.com

Les Gromechkos

From East to West, from North to South…the 6 members of Les Gromechkos are exploring all the hidden sides of Hong Kong to create a universe that echoes in their original tunes. Taking its roots in the early 60’s Jamaican Rocksteady, their music evolved in a unique blend of ska, roc, gipsy-punk and french musette. From a crazy accordion to a charming flute, from a canny keyboard to a bouncy bass, from a killer drum to the crystal glass breaking voice of their charismatic singer: you won’t stop your body from skanking on their catchy riddim.

http://www.gromechkos.com/

Shotgun Politics

We are four guys making our brand of energetic pop-rock. Coming from different backgrounds in Hong Kong, Singapore, Chengdu and Malmö we bring in our own influences from indie, punk-rock, alternative, metal and pop. The result? We call it ‘Party Rock’.
The objective has always been to make songs catchy for everyone to enjoy, yet heavy and layered enough for the musicians in the audience to stay interested. We want people to remember a Shotgun show for big choruses, loud guitars and an infectious performance.

www.facebook.com/shotgunpolitics
www.shotgun-politics.com

Laura Kenny

1.    Drive
2.    Another Page
3.    First Cut is the Deepest (Cat Stevens Cover)

Laura Kenny was a trooper Saturday night. She warmed up the stage with a charismatic and down-to-earth performance, fittingly singing the lyrics “I’ll just go on and drive”. Despite having been sick for a couple of days, the singer-songwriter (accompanied briefly by Danielle Vita on the violin) powered through to give us some nicely blended folk tunes and stellar vocals, high notes and all.

Not only did she offer us a beautifully crisp and clear sound but she also easily managed to dissolve the barrier between stage and audience with a charming sense of humour.

- Natalia Bodomo

Teenage Girls

1.    Johnston
2.    Red Rover
3.    Cancer
4.    Morning News
5.    Comet
6.    Stay Forever
7.    Jamie

Next up were Teenage Girls who brought it with a blast of energy. Their brash, no-nonsense sound clearly resonated with the crowd who were quickly enamoured and picked up on the energetic vibes.  The band played awesome Lo-fi indie music with alluring guitar riffs, mighty drumbeats and catchy melodies with a type of unmistakeable rebellious passion.

Red Rover, their second song in the set, was a catchy tune. It was one of my favourites and was admittedly stuck in my head long after the show. Another standout was the band’s performance of Cancer, a more ‘intense’ song in the words of lead singer Elaine. It had a beautifully intricate melody, though I wish I could have heard the lyrics under all that lo-fi. 

Still, all three band members (Elaine, Cal and Bren) worked superbly well together to give us fun music with a raw carefree attitude. They managed to appeal to everyone’s inner teenager, coaxing a little dancing out of a tentative audience.

They gave us noise. They gave us raw energy. They gave us fantastic music!

- Natalia Bodomo

Fluorescent Hearts

1.    Gasoline
2.    Give Me Your Love
3.    Guide You Home
4.    Anthem of the Heart
5.    To The Moon And Back (Savage Garden Cover)
6.    Where I Belong
7.    Butterfly
8.    Tell Her You Love Her
+ 2 encore Performances

Midway through the set, lead singer Chris introduced the band as “Four simpletons from Glasgow, Scotland”.  But far from simple, Fluorescent Hearts absolutely DELIVERED for their first ever Asian show at Bisous, Hong Kong.  In the moments leading up to the show, a buzzing audience were keen for them to take the stage. As soon as they did, the crowd was fully engaged and the band’s brilliant onstage energy electrified the room.

Fluorescent Hearts’ sound is a captivating brand of pop rock that’s powerful, passion-filled and cathartic. The first bars of their opening song Gasoline reminded me of the soundtrack intro to an epic scene in a movie, which is fitting seeing as the band does a fantastic job of building up momentum in their songs and taking the audience on a journey.

My two personal favourite performances were Guide You Home, which had a rocking mix of momentum, rhythm and drama, and Butterfly, a more delicate blend of guitar riffs, a milder drumbeat and an absolutely infectious vocal melody. In this latter song, Chris made excellent use of his vocal range.

It wasn’t difficult to sense the utter enthusiasm of drummer Gary who seemed to be playing wholeheartedly with his entire being making someone in the crowd yell out “Who’s the drummer? He’s awesome!!!”

In fact, what’s for sure is that the members of Fluorescent Hearts put their all into the show. The excitement of being on stage and perhaps playing in Asia for the first time was obvious. It had the energetic bassist Andy bounding around the stage as he delivered solid bass lines, and had guitarist Martyn fully immersed in his playing. Frontman Chris had great stage presence and took the time to make the crowd laugh with a sarcastic sense of humour.

With chants of “One more song!”  later pushing to “Five more songs!”, The crowd were able to squeeze two encore performances out of the band. They obviously couldn’t get enough!

- Natalia Bodomo

poster by ANGUS LEUNG
photos © Copyright 2013 by ANGUS LEUNG

What a night!
People poured into Backstage, clutching their bottles of Rogue Ale to witness four bands play their first show on The Underground stage.
Each band had their own ‘gimmick’ to go with their great original songs, that they had carefully crafted and served up for everyone’s enjoyment.
Thanks to The Underground team, you know I love you all.
Thanks to Sam for the awesome visuals which were manually created - no auto programming here at The Underground.
The audience were dancing, cheering and one of the friendliest crowds we’ve had.
Thanks to HKGFM for the cool tshirts & supporting The Underground.  Thanks to Hop Leaf for the tasty Rogue Ales.
Thanks to the friendly staff at Backstage & Kei for doing a great job on the sound.
I’d just like to say, that if The Underground can get Hong Kong’s top cover band to come and play a setlist full of originals, I reckon we’re doing something right
love Chris B x

Ned Noble

1. [Unnamed song #1]
2. School
3. The Pub Your Dad Ran
4. Epsilon
5. On My Mind
6. The First Song

Ned Noble rocked, simply put. And simple it was. Armed with bunch of Loops, a Roland Octopad and a guitar, they opened the first Rogue show (and hopefully not last) with aplomb. A healthy crowd had filled Backstage at this point and they were treated to an aural ecstasy of tunes.

Their first song “Unnamed Song #1″ definitely had a early Gorrilaz feel to it, with their percussionist driving a great tom rhythm.  Coupled by the new live video and light show on the back wall, we were treated to a sensory world that you don’t often get in the smaller HK venues. With sounds normally associated with MGMT and the last song, having a David Bowie “Let’s Dance” feel to it, people were moving and cheering along almost to Ned Noble’s will.

Backstage have done an excellent job of revamping their sound in the that few months, and this night is the best I’ve heard it. The octopad filled the room like the drummer had four hands and played to the loops like a robot with feeling.  Kinda like a music version of Data from Star Trek. Their mix of heavy reverb, a bit of that 80s electronic feel definitely brings a new style of music you don’t often hear in Hong Kong.

They originally were going to be a one man show, but i’m glad it was a duo tonight. The percussionist added a whole new dimension that filled the room and made it a great way for everyone to get into the spirit of the night. After their set Chris B, announced there might be a name change down the road for Ned Noble, which begs the question if they’ll be forming a band. I think it could be really cool but, whether they do or not, I love the sound and they’re heading in an excellent direction. One that I do look forward to re-visiting. I’m a fan.

– Jon “The Riot” Lee

Teenage Girls

1. Jamie
2. Stay Forever
3. Red Rover
4. Morning News
5. Cancer
6. Johnston
7. Let’s Be Friends

Teenage Girls were easily the most anticipated band of the night.  Mostly cause people were wondering just what the hell was up and whether teenage girls were actually gonna show up.  Well teenagers did show up, or it might be that i’m old and everyone looks like a teenager to me. Nevertheless they were worth the wait.

Their brand of raw, unpolished goodness, definitely had a bit of The Black Angels with some punk rock attitude thrown in. I have to be honest, I didn’t know what Indie lo-fi rock was, but once they started I almost wanted everything to sound like that. Their first song “Jamie”, had the feel of Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag” while their second was like Cowboy Junkies “Sweet Jane” on Red Bull. 

Their front woman Elaine does her best to channel every female band leader there is and she does it to devastating effect. I could sense a bit of Cranberries, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and it just works!

Their songs flowed together like butter aside from the occasional words between songs it was just solid song after solid song.  Their fourth song “Morning News” reminded me a bit of Creep by Radiohead and had an awesomely rocking outro. 

Their final songs had some of that Pixies goodness thrown in for good measure and it was by far one of their most polished songs of the night. It was short sweet and got the biggest cheer of the night so far.

You could tell there was a little nervousness on the night, but I hope to see them again soon, they were awesome, and deserve to be playing regularly.  It also gives me the wonderful excuse of getting to say “I’m gonna go and check out Teenage Girls tonight, anyone wanna come?”

 – Jon “The Riot” Lee

League of Gentlemen

1. Charming Life
2. Love Falls
3. Julia
4. Dr. Fu Manchu
5. Sweet Honey
6. Outta My Head
7. Party Time Wasted [Encore]

The third band up was the evidently quite popular-with-the-crowd League of Gentlemen. They began with big and brash drums in Charming Life, and the gunshot rhythm was paired with a riff in the vein of Satisfaction, with a similar whiplash quality to the classic song. Indeed, there are several things that the band appears to do that gives them a very classic, late 60s British Invasion-like sound. The vocals have a nasal, slightly shouty quality, like a mix of Johnny Thunders and Julian Casablancas, more typical of punk than rock ‘n’ roll, which combines rather well with the other elements of the music. The one thing that stands out, however, is the aggressive, verbose and juicy-sounding lead guitars, which wind rev happily rev out in front of the music when given a chance. There’s a lot of Hendrix in this mix (including the ascending-descending tune from Hey Joe towards the end of Dr. Fu Manchu), clearly, but filtered through the garage revival sound; a mix of fast and delicate solos, yoyoing between sweet and playful tones, and choosing conciseness over elaboration by not being too long. Add to this the grandiose, Zeppelin sort of musical attitude, and it’s lively stuff. Julia was more like a 50s rock number, with some very sweet guitars indeed, almost South Asian in feel (to me), something like that of Bilal Maqsood of Strings. Party Time Wasted was much more poppy in feel, sounding almost like a Blondie cover of a Hendrix song, but with a funky Meters-esque vibe.

            All of which is good, but the result is a bit predictable; certainly, it’s not a musician’s fault which era of music they’re born into, but it’s hard (if not impossible) not to view them through the lens of what has come before. The major issue I have with them is that it was the first time I’d heard them, but it almost felt like I’d heard some of the songs before. Don’t get me wrong, the individual components were quite uniform in their considerable quality, but when it came together it was quite radio-rock and formulaic (Sweet Honey and Outta My Head in particular)… In particular, I often felt that they would benefit by experimenting with their song structure a bit, as their set of talents would be  apropos of such an endeavour. But, they definitely seem to know what they want to do, and if this night was any judge, they’re very good with getting crowds moving [not many bands have played encores at The Underground], and with such a combination the identity of sound tends to follow in due course. So far, they’re a solid band with some interesting tunes, and good candidates for growing into a highlight of the scene, so they’re to be looked out for.

 – Shashwati Kala

Don’t Panic

1. Blue Cars
2. Clothes
3. Climber
4. Gift
5. Best of You [Foo Fighters cover]
6. War Pigs [Black Sabbath cover]
7. Sympathy for the Devil [Rolling Stones cover]

Don’t Panic is a band I’ve been watching play almost ever since I was inducted into the local music scene (they’ve been around for MANY more years than that, though) and I’ve seen them many times over these years. So have many other regulars of the scene, who also have repeatedly watched them live numerous times, and there is good reason for this: they’re hard to get bored of. They’ve played religiously for hours a night, nearly every single week, to crowds of all sizes and natures, and I can swear that they’ve entertained all of them. However, a band made up of people as obviously skilled as them has had a set of original songs a long time coming, and this was, to my knowledge, one of the few times that they have focussed on playing their own songs, so I was a bit anxious and quite excited to hear what they’d sound like (though I had heard a couple of their songs at an earlier gig).

And they didn’t disappoint. Theirs is a heavy, slightly 80s metal feel to their songs, in terms of the chromaticity of the notes they use - they tend to use a similar chugging rhythm and bright notes to back up the two vocalists’ also-quite bright voices to create a rousing and energetic sound that’s engaging and immediately engaging. Now, I don’t think they make any bones about wanting to make the sort-of straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll that accommodates few pretensions, which many bands do - the difference here is that they know how to use their talents to do this well, which is hard to do in a style that’s so oversubscribed. There are fast and flashy solos and imposing drums, but they’re brought to the fore judiciously, making them interesting rather than wearing out their welcome. The singers’ voices work interestingly in alternation, with John having a more classic rock ‘n’ roll/metal voice, fond of the high notes like Rob Halford’s is, while Geoff’s is a more poppy, cleaner voice that brings out the slightly lower-pitched songs well. Blue Cars was a broody, dark number with some very intense solos, while Clothes was a more rock ballad-like, sounding a bit like the late-70s Kinks. Climber was reminiscent of early REM (including a not-entirely-unjustified whinge about the night’s drinks’ prices) and Gift was an ominous, shreddy yet full of feeling song, in which the guitars really stood out for having walked the line between those two aspects to near-perfection.

It wouldn’t have been a Don’t Panic set, though, if there weren’t a few covers, and the selection seemed to have been made to warm my own heart - Foo Fighters, Black Sabbath and Rolling Stones songs that are staples of their regular sets, and which they have refined their renditions of were made even more delightful by Chris B joining them on stage. Now, I never stopped to think what Sympathy for the Devil would sound like in a deep, woman’s voice, but as it turns out it’s pretty damn good. The twist given to the song was really neat, and with Don’t Panic’s general atmosphere of let’s-all-let-our-hair-down, we couldn’t have had a better way to close the show. The more substantial taste Don’t Panic gave of their original music was, predictably, enticing – now I can’t wait for the album.

– Shashwati Kala 

poster by ANGUS LEUNG
photos © Copyright 2013 by ANGUS LEUNG

Purple Eye

1. 隨光隨影
2. 清晰畫面
3. That’s My Way to Love You
4. Colour Wheel
5. Waterfall
6. 鯨魚又會出現
7. 劃破黑白

          Purple Eye has been around for a few years, in one form or another, and for fewer of those few years, they have had a different singer, Carol. Now, I have primarily heard them with their previous singer, so I was curious as to how they would sound with a different style of singer. As it turns out, Carol suits their style quite a lot better than their earlier singer, with her less forceful, more melodic manner of singing and, frankly, more focus on singing. Indeed, her lighter touch suits the light pop-Latin elements in Purple Eye’s sound better, giving them greater finesse. She also avoids several singing pitfalls that many vocalists do fall into, such as over-breathiness. She sings well, and no hamming, perhaps best exemplified on 隨先隨影. They’ve tended towards lightly broody melodies, always sounding sweet by dint of the acoustic guitars used, like That’s My… and Colour Wheel. But, it’s more than that, the sweet sound is created as much by the melodies as by the instrumental timbre, which is a mix of the delicate generic acoustic-pop sound, mixed in with some Gipsy-Kings overtones and a Joan Baez-like folky feel. It was interesting to see, though, that some of their songs which were apparently newer compositions were indeed more stripped down, as they announced, and didn’t have the same veneer of slightly gloomy sound that their earlier ones tend to have. This works out differently on different songs, while Waterfall is much like 90s throwaway pop, 鯨魚又會出現 has the feel of a serene-yet-rousing lullaby, like a non-whiney Alanis Morissette.

          Now, there’s nothing really revolutionary here, so there is a feeling of already-covered ground there. Their lyrics in English are a tad hackneyed, but I’m reliably informed that this isn’t the case in Chinese. They do their best to keep things interesting with some deep-toned spoken word and jokey trumpet-imitation by guitarist Bonnie. Combine that with how the styles of the two guitarists contrast with each other – one stolidly laying the foundation of the music and the other gently elaborating on the base – is fascinating, and they’re engaging on stage, judging by the reaction from their audience, and they clearly seem to have identified a new line of attack that’s promising, so perhaps there are even better things to come in the future.

– Shashwati Kala

Ninetynine Floor

1. Demo 1
2. As if I’ve Met Life and Death Again
3. Cold Night
4. Run Run Run
5. Dying Rose
6. A.I.

Ninetynine Floor started with a short self-titled level check number, and its frantically-strummed, slightly weird-out feel was the perfect way to introduce themselves to the audience. Their sound is clearly inspired by Radiohead and their ilk, with its oddly static, floaty feel, but also with the Suede/Blur-y side of britpop adding some punch to proceedings, as on A.I.. The result is a hard-hitting soundscape, very much like that from the early 90s. And it would be a bit too much so, if it weren’t for some unique elements they’ve managed to include. The singer has a strange, thin voice with a papery quality, almost whiney in the vein of Jewel, but in a likeable way. The lead guitarist tend to play towards the higher end of the fretboard, with an almost-math-rock approach, using a wall of short notes to create an undulating, shimmering yet weighty feeling, while the singer’s style of soloing is to play melodies of an almost tragic-heroic nature, soaring and affecting, as on Run Run Run. These elements combine well with the fact that they play a few genuinely sad-feeling (as opposed to broody tunes, which is a far more popular approach), giving their set some real thrust. Cold Night was a bouncy, joyous number, but with the same richness of atmosphere and a celebratory feel, making it catchy and upbeat, almost like fIREHOSE. This was perhaps brought out best in the song that wasn’t so, Dying Rose, which was gentler in its emotional momentum, vaguely Killers-like, and with its trite lyrics was just okay. However the deep colour that their songs tend to have was still there, so it wasn’t an intolerable departure from quality. Still, it would’ve been served better if the song had a bit of punch. One might be tempted at this point to tag their music as overly derivative of the britpop style and in terms of pure stylistic tendencies, this might not be entirely unjustified. However, they have already developed significant unconventional features, and I would imagine that they would only get better with time. I’d rather describe them as trying to sound like,for instance, Radiohead, without actually copying them, which is at least worth a listen. All in all, they’re a winning band with some distinct and interesting things to say musically, and they certainly impressed on the night.

– Shashwati Kala

The Sinister Left

1. Heartworm in My Head
2. Her Drive
3. MSG
4. The Vulture That She Is
5. Lap of Mystery
6. The Coldest Man in Summer

          Now, the one thing that stood out before these guys started playing was that they were the only band to have played the Underground 10 times, and they’ve been with us from very early on in the process. However, once they start playing, it tends to drive out all other thoughts from the mind, since they are a band that commands the attention of one’s mind (or mine, at any rate). Making clever and judicious use of reverb on the vocals, a variety of guitar effects, imperturbably fluid bass, theremin-like accents from the keyboards, and a drummer who’s probably the most enthusiastic I’ve seen (Okay, actually second-most enthusiastic. The first is definitely good ol’ Freddie Gunn from Shotgun Politics and Kestrels & Kites), and uses the toms to good effect (also unusual). These components fit in together perfectly, to form an alternately soothing and discomfiting, abrasive scenery, with snaking melodies, and a fuzzy, slightly psychedelic intensity that may well leave you seeing stars. They’re almost like a mix of the Butthole Surfers, Arcade Fire and the Fuzztones, in a Butch Vig, Neo-Zeppelin kind of way (Lap of Mystery in particular). Perhaps what’s best about them is just how realised their sound is, because it’s definitely identifiable. A valid criticism of this would be to say that their songs are a bit samey, and it would be were that true, but I haven’t seen any evidence of that yet. They have a definite menace to their sound occasionally, that’s great for the kind of atmosphere they tend to create, and it’s often mixed with slightly Arabesque turns of tune, as in Heartworm… while Her Drive sounded a bit like early Smashing Pumpkins, with its driving, winding rhythm and the sharp attacks of guitar. The Vulture… had shades of Paul Leary-like guitars, with the rare clean tone making an appearance, and some really frantic fills by the drummer, and this general treatment they give to their songs was brought into relief by the almost-jazzy interlude in the middle of The Coldest Man… They certainly showed why they’ve been around for as long as they have, and hopefully they’ll be around for a lot longer. They don’t play too often, though, so you should catch a gig when you can.

– Shashwati Kala

Who Shot Holga

1. The Lie
2. Ino Uno
3. Killer Heels
4. Curiosity
5. Halfway In
6. F-Song
7. Let  it Burn
8. Clair

U107 has provided one of the most eclectic line-ups in recent memory and, as the final act sets up and line-checks to a synth-punk backing track, that seems likely to continue. Welcome to the stage Who Shot Holga: a girl-girl-boy trio featuring subtly punk stylings on guitar/vocals, diffident rock vibes on oversized bass and a stern leftie drummer perched on a largely right-handed kit.

“It’s our last gig so you better get fucking drunk!” yells frontgirl Tilly as WSH kick into The Lie, their high-energy opening number. Instantly reminiscent of Juliana Hatfield’s Blake Babies, but with significantly more power, hints of Le Tigre grrl punk quickly creep in – the sass without the politics – and there are even suggestions of the pop sensibilities of Veruca Salt – including the sex appeal but dropping the candy-coated self-consciousness. This is a great start deserving of a bigger crowd. The only weak link is the guitar tone. Crunchy to a fault, it’s been chosen for its raw punk sound a la Operation Ivy but lacks the bottom end to compete with the strong back line.

Ino Uno is classic 3-minute pop-rock, wry enough not to be saccharine. Drums are impeccable and bass is absolutely charming in every way. All that’s missing is a backing vocal which would add so much more texture. Marie’s Song survives the un-deux-trois-quatre count-in to deliver a classic nugget of lo-fi guitar pop, and I wish the sound at Backstage was better so I could make out more of the lyrics. The refrain “never wanna see your face again” evokes the Angels but the sound is too joyful and this could easily be Bidston Moss singing about their new ten-speed bike. I love it.

Curiosity is up next, and this one features on an Underground compilation. “So buy the fuckin’ CD,” barks Tilly. As with her previous command, disobeying doesn’t even cross my mind. This one brings a change of pace, with thumping kick drum shifting up to toms as the group sets up a mesmerising mid-tempo grind. It’s a significant change and showcases a much bigger dynamic range from all three players. As the vocals hit a high point, my friend leans over wide-eyed and remarks “it’s gotten really sexual”.

That isn’t quite maintained for Half Way In, where the guitar tone flakes out again, but the band is clearly hitting their stride, especially the drums which are now huge, and there’s some wailing that would win Wayne Campbell’s heart.  F-Song smells like Green Day off the bat before returning to the favoured 90s sound with undertones of Belly, but Tanya Donnelly would never pen something this unpretentious. Finally the backing vocals are cranked up and WSH fill the room with their sound as all three members revel in a song of back-seat shenanigans.

Let It Burn suggests Tilly has been listening to Tegan and Sara lately, but there’s nothing derivative here and her voice absolutely owns this number. It’s a winner and I wish it’d gone on for longer. But we’re almost done and the set is closed out with Clair, an uplifting pop-rock dash with Cantonese count-in (correcting the earlier faux pas), hand claps, nah-nah-nahs and woah-woah-woahs.

Who Shot Holga have talent, energy, passion and the songs to back it up. But while they’re individually confident and competent, they weren’t as well-oiled a unit as they might have been, and they didn’t always touch the level promised by their obvious potential. With members now dispersing around Asia, WSH may remain a question of what could have been. Start the petition for a reunion now.

– Brendan Clift

poster by ANGUS LEUNG
photos © Copyright 2013 by ANGUS LEUNG

And so the inner demons of heavy music lovers were unleashed in The Live House. …
Thanks to the four bands who brought their own style and creativity to this event and thanks to the audience who moshed, danced & clearly enjoyed the performance of each band. Thanks to the wonderful & patient staff of The Live House, who have never hosted a heavy show before Thanks always to The Underground team.
love Chris B x

Fear Index

1. Intro
2. Trash
3. Capitalize
4. Haters
5. Breaking the Law (Judas Priest cover)
6. Two-Face

It was exciting to be at the first Heavy show in well above a year (the last one was in the tail-end of 2011!), and from looking at Fear Index, it looked like it would be comparable to the other ones too. They really, really looked the part of a post-90s metal band, with their regular-looking clothes and the particular combination of hairstyles. And they do sound the part too. There’s plenty of thrashy shredding, a huge bass-drum sound, high-pitched and winding solos, and screaming. However, this combination of sounds can be asserted about nearly any and every metal band on the planet, and therein lies their problem; they are so genre-limited as to have no discernable style of their own. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; some bands look at their purpose as purely to have a good time and entertain, and that’s fine. They were wholly so, and in combination with the typically enthusiastic crowd we get at Heavy shows, they were a hit. However, they do assert that they focus on being melodic, and I fear I must inform them that they’re really not playing something that sounds like melodic metal.

Singer Chester also needs to spend some time on sorting out his vocal technique – his screaming is okay, but when he sings, it sounds hammy and shouty. Perhaps he needs to choose one path to go down, or simply needs training, but either way it really needs to be sorted out. His vocals did work, however, on Breaking the Law and Two-Face, in which the singing and screaming sounded appropriate. I can’t tell precisely what it was that made it so, but perhaps the more classic rock, Van Halen-esque style they adopted in the song is more appropriate. Their drummer is fantastic, being able to play thrash excellently, and just a tad behind the beat, which is a very rare quality to have.

Finally, I must say something about the soloing as well – from time to time it appeared as though the solos were more alt rock and broody than thrashy bands typically have, I couldn’t get a read on them… And the reason for this leads me to say something I don’t think I’ve ever said before – the solos weren’t long enough (!!!). Perhaps this is another aspect they should look at; what I heard of the solos was good, with the singing/screaming guitar sound, and menacing tones, but there wasn’t enough of them for me to be able to gauge th direction in which they were going, in terms of style. Perhaps that’s why I couldn’t tell how melodic (or not) they were… Regardless, there were definitely the seeds of good tunes in their songs; they need to figure out how best to manifest them. They were certainly fun to watch, and worked the crowd into the sort of lather required to begin a Heavy show.

–
Shashwati Kala

Black Night Red Sky

1. Intro
2. Destruction
3. Schizo
4. Perdition
5. Sorrow
6. Burn

The second band on that night, Black Night Red Sky wasted no time in plunging the audience straight into the strong and fast current that is their music. Now, aside from their use of the word ‘ambient’ (typically used in retch-inducing lounge situations), they appear to have a very clear idea of what they sound like. They do have heavy and groovy music, and ‘melodic and ambient swells’ is just about as precise a description of the bursts of broody-moody guitars that their songs contain. The screaming is top-notch, and they covered a variety of different styles and feels through their set, and effectively so. From the sludgy Destruction, to the thrashy/shreddy Schizo and Burn to the more Noughties anthemic rock feel of Sorrow, they did it all with interesting textures and unconventional tones, without coming off as taking themselves too seriously (which many metal bands do) or resorting to overlong wanky solos (which many metals bands also do). They seem to like a guitar that sounds like elephants in the distance, an unusual feature to be coupled with screaming, and the result is commendable. The guitars’ wall of sound and the almost anti-solos played in most of their songs was good to hear, since it’s the sign of a different attitude to heavy music than the one that is typical. However, when shredding is required, shredding is given, as in the surprisingly early 80s virtuoso-like solo in Sorrow.

However, it does appear they have a formula – they start off a song quite fast, and then slow down after a minute or so, and do a sludgy thing, and then solo, and then a headbangy bit… It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it could so easily be remedied by a little more creative arrangement. This was particularly noticable on Burn, in which the transitions were clunky and had very little to do with each other, musically speaking – surely it could’ve been written better, especially in light of the songs that preceded it. Still, they’ve certainly hit on a promising vein with their current sound, and I hope to hear them consolidate this potential by developing this over time.

–
Shashwati Kala

Blackwine

1. 轉捩點
2. 傳聞
3. 黑夜快車
4. 不舍不棄
5. 愛恨交戰

Any band touting themselves as ‘progressive’ today is an interesting idea. It instantly raises the question of precisely what they mean by the word in their particular case. Do they mean lots of keyboards and effects combined with the “let’s play endless solos” attitude of prog-rock in the 70s, or is it merely an attitude towards music, that’s not standard but stops short of experimental?

In this case, it turns out, it’s really neither. Blackwine’s sound is a nostalgic-seeming mix of somewhat psychedelic guitars, a Black Sabbath-like chugging feeling in their songs, and Deep Purple-esque hazy guitar tones. This is put into stark relief by their singer’s extremely Pop style of singing and his, frankly, very thin voice; it didn’t quite all fit together, despite the fact that he does have some chops. They have been around for a long time, so people must like them for this to have been a worthy endeavour over the years, but I’m sorry to say that there is little to engage with and not much freshness in their sound, and they end up really dating themselves. Progressive metal, it doesn’t sound like.

This is not to say that they’re not skilled; as I’ve said, the singer does have some skill, but is let down by his voice. The rest of the band are highly competent, and the guitarist can play like a semi-virtuoso, and has a knack for big, bombastic solos. It’s just that it’s not all terribly interesting. 愛恨交戰 started off very interestingly, almost sounding like something that Primus without Les Claypool’s slap-bass would, but descended into a disappointingly poppy, at which point it progressed to lose the features that would differentiate it from standard radio fare. 不舍不棄 possibly best encapsulates their problem – it sounds like a 80s soft rock Santana song, and there’s a feeling of going over covered ground.

Still, there must be a reason that they’ve survived as a band all these years, and the answer might possibly lie in the singer’s ability to handle a crowd – they certainly did that well. So, regardless of what I’ve said here, they do appear to love playing music and having fun on stage, which is good enough reason to play music. Shine on, you crazy diamonds.

–
Shashwati Kala

BLACKBIRD

1. Meltdown
2. Big Rain
3. So Far Gone
4. Memo
5. Roll to the Break of Dawn

And, finally, to close out the night we had Blackbird; a band that rose from the (sadly seemingly permanent) ashes of the very awesome This is Ammunition. Still, three out of four’s better than none, and the very presence of three musicians in the band is reason for hope that something awesome might occur. And is it awesome?

YES!

Blackbird is an intensely weird combination of sounds that intuitively would seem to pull in different directions; they’re very atmosphere-oriented, while still being very heavy, which is odd, almost-disturbing but very engaging because of that very fact. To put it very simply (and forgive me if I’m oversimplifying here) their sound makes me think of if Stephen Malkmus sang for a band made up of Dean DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots) and the rhythm section from Soundgarden. It’s what I imagine The Presidents of the USA might sound like if they played heavy music. The atmospheric but punchy guitars played against the background of a verytaut bass (played like in thrash) and a hybrid hardcore-alt rock style of drumming adds up to make a very listenable concoction. Okay, I may be a tad biased here because this is exactly the kind of music I like best, but I think it wouldn’t be venturing too far into subectivity to say that the music is quite awesome. Perhaps they haven’t quite got all the nitty-gritties sorted out yet, but this was literally their second show, so they can be excused some lack of finesse.

They began with the very atmospheric ​Meltdown, whichmorphed into a chugging, Black Sabbath-derived-rock-like song at some point. Big Rain was an upbeat song with a warmer, searing, more classic rock ‘n’ roll tone, which, I though, was a great touch. A couple of their songs sound a bit samey – songs 2-5 sound like they’re based off of the same tune – and despite their music being very crunchy and engaging, even that fact can’t save them from blurring into one song. They did execute the creeping-feeling-of-gloom particularly well – Alice in Chains would’ve been proud – and this was best done in So Far Gone. The dynamism in their sound despite their being a very new outfit reflects well on how long they have been playing together and how well they fit together musically, and Roll to the… embodied that strength the best. All in all, consdering how new they are, it was a commendable performance, and a great end to the show.

– Shashwati Kala

poster by ANGUS LEUNG

photos © Copyright 2013 by ANGUS LEUNG

Well well well. Even the most social members of The Underground team were delighted with the attendance, the ethos of ‘leave your phones off’ and disconnecting from the ‘digital age’ to just enjoy the music. Thanks so much to Innisfallen, Dr Eggs and Macau-based Forget The G for creating the music that must be listened to. Big thanks to Backstage for hosting the show. Thanks so so much to The Underground team. 

Love Chris B x

Innisfallen

1. Slow Motion
2. Jugglers
3. Pink Elephant
4. Snow Lion
5. No Reply (The Reprise)
6. Butterfly Effect

The Underground gig with a difference started off with a band that hadn’t played the Underground in ages, the duration of which included hiatuses, changes in lineups and general ambiguity about the state of affairs of the band. Which is why it’s been a relief to see them recently playing gigs around town, in gradually increasing frequency. These guys, in some form, have been around for quite a while, and since the earliest days, it seems, they have conjured images of beautiful music and shimmering tunes with an added rock ‘n’ roll punch. The years, it would also seem, have not taken away much from this approach, since it’s very much the sort of music they play now too. There are lots of shiny-sounding guitars, used to express resonating and dramatic melodies, which vary from being peppy and dancey (Snow Lion, Pink Elephant) to slower, more anchored tunes (No Reply). They do use a tone of effects, especially for the lead guitar; however, it’s not wanky noodling or flashy overlong solos that these pedals serve. Instead, the guitars are atmospheric and sweet but firm in their tone, and it creates a rich, fresh-sounding wall of sound against which the very smooth bass and singer Erik’s odd-but-soothing voice can work to bring together their engaging sound. They generally play tunes like the Killers do, but with more richness in the arrangements and experiment in guitar tones, making it more akin to what Arcade Fire or Fleet Foxes do, and with a dose of the Cranberries’ energy to top things off (particularly in Butterfly Effect, which actually sounded like one of theirs, even with its oddly harmonium-toned guitars). In songs like Slow Motion was manifested their main strength, which is that they can be forceful in their sound without added abrasion from the guitar, which is a useful form of musical brevity to have. This does, however, make the music come off a little bland at points. Also, the singing is a bit more nonchalant and off-key than the songs call for, since the laidback voice in a slightly off-kilter tone is the primarily used mode of singing, but this is manageable and doesn’t much detract from the songs (though some might disagree about the magnitude). Overall, it was a very fitting, way to start off a very promising show. 

– Shashwati Kala 

Dr. Eggs

1. Back
2. Take on Me (A-Ha cover)
3. Whisky and Passport
4.  J’vais t’pecho
5. Contre Moi
6. Little Thing
7. Human Behaviour
8. Boost

The second act of the night, too, was an act that had not played at The Underground for a solid few years, and were evidently missed. Unlike the case with Innisfallen, almost the entire membership of the band was changed, except, of course, for core member and the good doctor himself, singer Joul. Now, as I have said before, I am close to allergic to the word ‘electro’, and almost distrustful of it. It, to me, is permanently associated with lame synth and stupid booping sound effects that were the staple of music videos in the 80s and early 90s (despite the number of good electronic musicians I have heard here in HK, I should say). So, naturally, I was skeptical of what ‘electro-punk’ might mean too.

In hindsight, I’m glad to report, these worries seemed superfluous, as the music was quite consistently awesome. There’s a LOT of Noughties rock in their sound, in particular the manner in which the instruments come together to form one thrashing yet slick mass of heavy and compressed, heavy beats. This is covered by the alternating rapping/singing of Joul, in his adenoidal yet forceful voice (which, unusually, sounds quite good when singing), and the concoction is completed by a liberal dose of frenzy. Performance and music are both frantic and wild, and they’re quite the spectacle on stage, running about like balls of energy looking to exhaust supplies, and are quite good at the stage prattle as well. Which made it a particular pity that the crowd that night were the sort who wouldn’t respond to repeated requests to move closer to the stage; they seemed much too taken aback to do so…. Oh well.

The set started off with a medieval-like recorded bit and on to a piano concerto-like thingy, and on in this vein, while the band on stage made funny faces. The music is something like a mix of the style of Faith No More and the spirit of bands like The Screamers and Nervous Gender, in its mix of (very generally) rap rhythms and hardcore punk melodies (like on Contre Moi or Boost, or the almost Defiant Scum-like J’vais t’pecho). Their cover of A-Ha’s Take on Me was a real surprise, because of how much and how well they changed it up – I would say it’s almost as good as Reel Big Fish’s cover, in terms of taking a mediocre song and making it interesting and fun. The electronic bits added texture to the whole heavy rock sound without being jarring or interfering with the songs’ sound, as in the more dancey Little Thing. There is a more RATM-like side to them, like the storming Whisky and Passport. Their particular pastiche of post-punky-hardcore-punk-funk is solid, heavy, danceable and VERY fun to watch live, and all the flash is backed up by genuinely good tunes, though I have to say that the songs verge on sounding samey. A good example indeed of a band that must be watched live to understand what they’re about, and they certainly drove home the purpose of the show that night.

– Shashwati Kala 

Forget the G

1. Intro
2. Prologue
3. I Wish
4. 困
5. 別

What Forget the G (another band that is a long-time returnee to The Underground’s stage) is like can be summed up quite well in something that singer Eric said during their set - “Welcome to  our dimension”. Indeed, listening to them is to step into a different dimension, but in more ways than one. Aside from the obvious fact that they play a very specific type of music that most bands don’t, they also go for the long-form song, which is also very unusual. However, I have always been of the opinion that a band has to really earn the right to play a single song in front of an audience for times approaching and above eight minutes. Many, many bands do not actually have enough to say in musical terms (lyrics, not so much) to justifiably fill that space, and it tends to be taken up by the bane of heavy bands’ existences – wanky and pointless noodling. So, does this band hit the mark? Yes; and how.

They earn every minute that they take up of your attention, and don’t use the ‘experimental’ tag to aimlessly wander down sonic alleyways. Their music is focussed and laser sharp, managing to be minimalistic in its grandeur. The sparse, nagging piano and tortuous, thundering,  atmosphere-creating-and-destroying guitars are based on the unmoving bedrock of solid, and nuanced drum-work, and the impassioned, almost desperate singing serves to elevate this feel even higher. They contrasted nicely with Dr. Eggs, by embodying a completely different kind of frenzy that’s purely in the very nature of the music rather than in its effect and delivery, but being no less in magnitude. If Innisfallen create some sonic atmosphere, Forget the G wield it as their primary weapon. Perhaps the best thing about the band is that while singer Eric has a typically thin, almost whiney voice, he can actually sing – the vast number of long-held high notes they wrote into their songs are all executed with gusto and competently, which is not a typical feature of such bands. I apologise if my description of their music seems vague, but because of the way they write songs, they sort of defy description since the songs are written without so much a focus on every one having its own character, and more on making the transitions to and fro different feels and tones count. I can say this – there is no shortage of big hooks (I Wish in particular had a massive tuneful hook). They even use an e-bow, and are one of the rare bands than can actually justify its use rather than its just being a cool doo-dad. The haunting nature and gruesome beauty of their songs, the sheer calculation in their dynamicism and their obvious ear for interesting feel-changes makes them a band that really must be seen live – possibly the most so of the bands on that night. There could scarcely have been a better way to close out the night, and entering their dimension provided a great closer to a great night of music.

– Shashwati Kala 

Poster by Jesseca Dolano

photos © Copyright 2013 by Steve Schechter

NuPage

1. Come Together (Beatles Cover)

2. 16月6日晴

3. 難得

4. 和你同偕並肩

5. 問號

6. 抽離

The night began with the Canto-pop-rock of NuPage, which they chose to do with a Beatles cover. And, pleasantly, they chose to make the song their own, adding a Latin-Jazz, almost dancey, feel to it, combined with touches of some spiky, very alt rock guitars. Despite the fact that I, personally, very nearly hate the song, I found myself enjoying the novelty of it. 16月6日晴 started off a bit like Green Day’s Basket Case – fast and fun with a pop-punk feel – and moved into a chugging hard rock number, almost sounding like Sammy Hagar-era Van Halen, but with the tones that guitarists often have used from the 90s. The song’s lyrics also had a percussive, rhythmic quality, seemingly having been written in consonance with the articulated drum beats. All this and it was a fast peppy number, that got even jaded listeners rocking along. The singer’s voice helped in spades with this; with his made-for-radio voice and his non-melodramatic style, he added to the polish of the songs, which were already fairly cleanly composed.

However, it seems that they flattered to deceive with their opening, because the energy, and the quality of the songwriting, seemed to dip for the rest of their set. They largely stuck to midtempo pop-rockers, with the requisite alternations between the ‘rocking’ feel and the single-note-emotional appeal feel. 問號 sounded a bit like the Police’s Message in a Bottle, while 抽離 was a more glam-metal song, complete with squealing solo, and they were both heavier songs than the ones before. 難得 was a very Maroon 5-esque song, with a similar property of being lightly funky in a way that takes the fun out of pop and the oomph out of funk.  However, I could countenance that if their energy was winsome, or it sounded like an effort by the whole band. As I have said, the energy did dip as they moved into increasingly vanilla-rock territory. What was worse, in my opinion, however was that they stopped sounding like one unit, and much more like a singer with a backing band. The oneness of composition that had made their first two songs endearing was gone, replaced by vocal highlights supplemented by mellow and unmemorable backing music. I understand that they are a Cantonese-style rock band, in which the focus being on the singer is not uncommon, but I don’t that that should automatically exonerate them (and any band that does this, of which there are many) from having to play as a band. Quite a few local bands manage to sing in styles of Canto-rock and still maintain the significance of there being musicians playing instruments on stage – Senseless, Airtub, Milkshake7, Amino Shower, Killer Soap, The Merriweather Deer come to (my) mind.

To be very clear, the singing was quality all the way through, and the musicians (their drummer in particular) do appear to be skilled. I also understand that bands tend to be part-time, with their members having day-jobs and things, so time is at a premium. However, if I were to point out one area that they could improve in, it would be investing time in composing for the whole band, as opposed to just the singer. I do hope that the band takes this in the spirit it was intended in.

– Shashwati Kala

Zippo 打火機得獎者！Winner of Zippo Lighter!

Hazden

1. Dracula

2. I See It

3. 往日無憂

4. 似是而非

5. Alina

6. Capri no. 2

Second up were Hazden, returning to The Underground’s stage after a long hiatus. They’ve been around for a long time, and so they’ve been through the typical line-up changes shifting of band-members around that comes with that fact. I happen to have heard them a few times during this period, and am happy to report that it doesn’t appear to have suffered many problems from this fact, as the band’s sound and energy hasn’t been negatively affected by this. Their very first song announced them in perfectly – they are a band that like a big metal sound, with a little bit of drama and a little dread thrown in. Their set that followed played this out without being boring, which tends to be hard to do for metal bands, so full marks to them for pulling this off. (Also their guitarist was wearing something that looked very much like a semi-dress, which was also interesting.)

They do have one issue, which is that singer Faye’s voice, while notable, tends to be inconsistent from gig to gig, and their songs are demanding on the throat, and require vocal integrity to be maintained, as they have a lot of very high-pitched extended transitions. This night, however, was generally a good night for her, and aside from a few songs that appeared to be composed outside of her range (which can be remedied by a few sessions of rethinking, if they wish), she was rather good. Which isn’t surprising, because her voice is rather good – clean and strong, it puts me in mind of Amy Lee and Liz Phair at the same time, and it suits their style of metal quite well. Just, maybe, cut down on the outlying high notes, and they could have a non-jarring vocal performance all the way through.

I See It was a more minimalistic song, broody in the vein of Garbage, with a chorus nicely structured to show off Faye’s strengths and its concluding high note being satisfyingly built up to, and an almost atonal (in bits) guitar solo mixed with Paul Gilbert-y pentatonic riffing. [3] mixed textured guitars with shreddy guitars in a manner reminiscent of the Lostprophets’ second album. [4] saw the bassist join in, and took on a much more classic rock feel, but moved back over into the sustained-note-holding pattern when Faye sang (perhaps an interesting contrast between composition styles); I did feel, though, that it could’ve been shortened by quite a bit as it got repetitive towards the end. Capri no. 2 was a more poppy, with perhaps the best vocals of the night, played with an Yngwie Malmsteen palate on guitar, which was a great way to close out the set.

– Shashwati Kala

  Zippo 打火機得獎者！Winner of Zippo Lighter!

We Wanted to Be the Sky

1. Because All Romantics Are Quitters

2. Fire

3. Play Again

4. Heart Attack

5. Up the Walls

6. Photographs+Nitrogen

7. Wanchop

WWBS began their career while I was away, so I didn’t get to see their first couple of months of development as a band. When I asked someone who had, they were described to me as “Tilly and a bunch of maniacs”. (Note – this is not to say that Tilly isn’t a maniac on stage; merely that I was familiar with her work.) Well, this, I’m happy to report, is essentially true – the band is Tilly with her delicious ear for good rock ‘n’ roll, combined with a swirling whirlwind of guitars, an appositely solid bass, and a kickin’ drummer (which, as Krist Novoselic said, is very important for a band) who, at his best, bears an uncanny resemblance in style to the late, great Jerry Nolan. So, they’re great on paper.

They’re even better in reality, because (awesome) music aside, they’re quite the spectacle on stage. Tilly was always a livewire, but guitarist Sam takes that to another level by being rather dervish-esque. These two alone are reason enough to go out to watch them. They sound very much like the bands that came out of the post-grunge woodwork in the 90s to sound like a mix of (and it makes me very happy to be able to say this) the grinding propulsion of L7’s Smell the Magic and the classic-yet-alternative rock sound of Mudhoney’s Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, with some of the sweetness of the Kooks. At their best, they seriously remind me of Fugazi It’s a compelling combination, and they have the songs to match (if you haven’t heard them, they have a few songs for download here..) They also use sampled sounds (including people repeating their name), which is not only clever, but breathes freshness into the set by replacing the mid-song banter.

From the shreddy goodness (and great title) of Because All… to the more slow and winding Fire, they already have some pretty good songs going. There are a couple of songs, Play Again and Photographs+Nitrogen, for instance, in which the elements don’t quite all work together, and Tilly’s peculiar style of singing does get to me a bit when she overdoes the replacing of high notes with a shriek/squeal (in my opinion), but they are a band to be watched out for. This, not only because they’re great live, but also because the stuff they’ve recorded so far sounds terrific. Great stuff with, I’m confident, more to come.

– Shashwati Kala

  Zippo 打火機得獎者！Winner of Zippo Lighter!

Silver Roses

1. Legacy

2. 喜愛夜蒲

3. Someone Like You (Adele cover)

4. 冷戰

5. No Regret

The last band to take the stage was also an Underground debutante, and they jumped right into their set, beginning with a droning, early-thrashy song, with some well-executed screaming and a massive melodic hook. The heaviness of the song was nicely leavened with the quite glammy harmonies, which was fun. Naturally, my hopes were up, as they seemed like a solid band. However, they quickly moved into much more hackneyed Noughties rock territory with喜愛夜蒲, which was more late Linkin Park-like – a tired semi-melody of poppish metal with some spoken word thing, which didn’t suit them well. Things didn’t get much better after that for, though they tended to start of their songs quite heavy, they quickly transitioned into playing unsuitably pop-metal tunes, which felt jarring to listen to. 冷戰 was a return to a more headbangy style, slightly reminiscent of early Judas Priest. However, most any heavy elements in their songs had their corners shaved off as they felt really safe and lacked the all-important punch of metal. It didn’t much help that their singer came off as really hammy, and almost smarmy at points (especially during their last song). I’m not automatically against metal bands doing covers of pop songs – quite the opposite - but their cover of Adele was massively hampered that their singer’s voice sounds weak. This made his on-stage emoting come off as, frankly, a bit lame.

I’m thrilled that these guys have formed a band – which is a rare enough thing for young people here to do – but now that they have, I’d have to say that they are going to have to give some serious thought to the music they’re making and what suits them. Admittedly, he was quite good at screaming, very animated on stage, and he knew how to get the crowd excited and going with him too, and the musicians are clearly talented, but that doesn’t count for all that much (to me) if the music is lacking. Again, I hope that my comments are taken in the intended spirit, and I hope to see these guys playing again, vastly improved and making my current comments invalid. When they played in the style of the big arena rock, they were actually quite interesting – perhaps that’s a direction they may consider focusing on. I wish them the best for the future.

– Shashwati Kala

Poster by ANGUS LEUNG

photos © Copyright 2012 by Steve Schechter

OMG!   What night this was!  With three bands all very much wanting to go for a rocking weekend in Beijing, gigging and partying with musicians from all over China, we had an intense evening of music.  Thank you to TUX, insidejokes. And Defiant Scum for your creativity and ENTHUSIASM!  Our special guests Jukator were kick-ass too!
To the audience who came to judge and vote and cheer the bands on, we salute you for caring about Hong Kong bands and their chances to play outside of Hong Kong.   Defiant Scum said “who would have thought a punk band would win”, well, we welcome all genres of creativity and originality here at The Underground :)   Big thanks to Jon Wyler, Midi Festival and The Live House for supporting musician’s dreams.
love Chris B xx

TUX

1. Is That All There Is

2. One Man Island

3. Over the Sea

4. Not the Same

The night started off with the youngest band in the room that day – in the sense that they were just about a month old, and this was merely their second public show. That fact didn’t show through much, though (other than the occasional look of nerves that seemed to cross the band members’ faces). The band are tight, and pulled off some neat musical maneuvers, and to top it all off have an infectious sound. They call themselves ‘dreampop-shoegaze’, and there certainly are some elements of the style in there; the long, extended notes in shiny guitar tones, with the intense drumming set behind to contrast it are there in droves. The guitars also occasionally move into melodic arpeggiated, still-shiny-tones mode, also a typifying feature of the genre are there too, particularly at the starts of songs (a good ploy, by the way, as it sets the tone for the songs very well). Singer Dawn sounds like a mix of D’arcy Wretzky from the Smashing Pumpkins and Moe Tucker from The Velvet Underground – hers is a soft, thin voice with a lightly papery quality, and yet can be quite powerful (if slightly patchy…which practice will probably improve) when power is called for, as with the wordless a singing in One Man Island. 

However, the keytar and programmed synth add an element of 80s synth-rock, in the deep colourful hues hues of The Cars. There’s also a bit of Noughties rock, in the powerful drumming and insistent, loopy basslines, slightly reminiscent of local band Hungry Ghosts’ style. In all, they put me in mind of the mood of the Smashing Pumpkins’ Drown mixed with some 70s dance-rock and 80s synth-rock. There are times when this mix gets a little lost in itself, and can be stuck in the doldrums a bit, such that it feels like the song doesn’t know where to go and things go a bit flat; surprisingly, this happened in the middle of their fastest song Not the Same. I do think, however, that this is a matter of them being such a new band, and their musical and songwriting styles still being a little raw, and should be remedied with time. Their sound is different enough and their energy high enough for them to stand out among local bands. They even handled the nealr-ten minutes of technical problems well. I hold out hope that they will be around for a while; if their first two shows are anything to judge by, they could be a local highlight.

– Shashwati Kala

Defiant Scum

1. Every Day is the Same

2. Fashion Whores

3. No Gods

4. DIY

5. Bombed

6. Concrete Typhoon

7. The Pirates of Cheung Chau

8. Punk Rock Rickshaw

9. You Make Me Sick

10. Straight Edge

11. Dai Pai Dong

Their performance this evening at The Live House in Mong Kok positioned them as contestants for the BUD ROCKS 2012 Hong Kong FINALS, vying for the chance to fly to Beijing next weekend to represent HK in the competition.
Founded in 2006, we refer to them as Hong Kong Street Punk, and they are all that and more.  These guys were raised as devoted students of the global punk movement, and have become seasoned punk veterans in their own right.
They hit the stage in true punk style, hammering out 11 songs in twenty minutes.  With a very casual, “don’t take any of this too serious” attitude, they swooned the crowd into short lasted sing-a-longs of Defiant Scum classics, including “You Make Me Sick”, “Fuck Religion” and “Fashion Whores”.  One of the highlights of their set was a very salty anthem “The Pirates of Cheung Chau”. The song is not quite pure punk in nature, with a little bit of a “London Calling” feel, it shows off that underneath their casual exterior, there is true artist integrity coming from within.
Overall their sound and musical approach is very classic punk, lose arrangements, slightly sloppy musicianship, raw, slightly out of tune, but all in the purist punk sense.  I mean, what punk band would waste their time tuning, when there is so much rebellious music to be played!
And to nicely end the story, DEFIANT SCUM wins the trophy for the evening’s competition, going to Beijing to represent Hong Kong in all their punk glory.  We wish them the best of luck in Beijing.

– Gregory J Tancer

InsideJokes

1. Neon

2. Pieces of You, Pieces of Me

3. Opium

4. Envoy

5. Nothing Lasts

The last band competing that night was a great contrast to Defiant Scum – as much as the latter were set in their ways in terms of sound, the former were far more malleable, moving between different styles through their songs. There was some Metallica-esque doom-and-gloom to begin with, moving into Foo Fighters-y territory, all in the space of Neon. They do tend towards the latter side of the spectrum, with lots of classic use of the Tele – reduced use of distortion, favouring the slightly wonky, twangy sound that the Tele makes when pushed. The guitarist seems to favour the ambiguous-feeling arpeggiation, reminiscent of Suede, and of the style that Sonic Youth helped create in Goo. There were bits in Pieces of… that were bluesier in a more Joe Perry-esque way, while Nothing Lasts was more light-funk (set to a marching beat, which was interesting), but guitars otherwise tended to traverse this territory. In particular, he reminds me of guitarist Xulfi from the Pakistani band eP, with his similar tendency for extended melodic moodiness.

The band, however, was hampered somewhat by the uneven singing. Their singer has a voice that could be edgy – it’s thin and nasal, and many a hardcore punk singer has used this to their advantage. In this case, however, the songs needed a vocal that was more accurate on the notes, as the misses tended to be more jarring than compelling. I’m all for having non-conventional voices that fool the listener’s ear into thinking that notes are being missed, but in this case it wasn’t like that. The songs also lost some of their impact because of some of the more egregious misses, and that simply doesn’t need to be so. They are otherwise a solid band, with some driving and enjoyable songs that lean towards the heavier end of the spectrum, and while they weren’t quite game-fit on the night, they showed a lot of potential along with their clearly realised skill. The answer to this is to just keep gigging, when they can, and polish their songs and technique, which I hope very much that they do, ‘cause they’re a good band.

– Shashwati Kala

WINNER OF UNDERGROUND PHONE CHARGER

2012年Bud Rocks 香港區決賽勝利者

WINNER OF BUD ROCKS HONG KONG FINAL 2012

Jukator

1. 密室

2. Phantom’s Clutch

Gives a special performance tonight at the Live House in Mong Kok as guest band for the BUD ROCKS 2012 Hong Kong FINALS, the competition they had won in 2011.
Founded in April 2010, their name is taken from a Romanian word meaning “player”.  With that, the best way to describe their musical style is progressive, flavored with gothic and classical fusion, with a heavy emphasis on musicianship.

They played a short but powerful 20 minute, two song set.  Their music is quite complex in nature, combining interesting musical and vocal arrangements with non-standard time signatures and neoclassical and diminished minor scale patterns. The end result is an intelligent mixture of gothic neoclassical fusion, with lots of Hong Kong signature musical drama and flavor added in.

This band is a group of pure musician that are quite well schooled, with musicianship levels far above the average Hong Kong band. It is quite apparent that they have put lots of hard work and practice practice practice into honing their individual musical talents. Their overall sound has a foundation built on heavy use of keyboards stemming from the early fusion rock bands like YES and ELP, to some of the more recent acts like Dragonforce and Dream Theater.

From a musical standpoint, JUKATOR puts everything out there for us to enjoy, from the complicated keyboard performance by WongWai, to the solid rhythm section work of Jacky Man on bass and Joseph Ho on drums.  Then as icing on the cake, we were treated to some quite accomplish guitar shredding by Siam Chan, and the super powerful vocal skills and talents of OK Lo.

With JUKATOR’s style unique to Hong Kong, they have a bright future and chance to have a positive impact on the overall Hong Kong music scene.

– Gregory J Tancer

photos © Copyright 2012 by ANGUS LEUNG

poster by ANGUS LEUNG

Logo

1. Project
2. Non-Stop Paradise
3. Tidal Wave
4. I Saw Your Eye
5. Love Hotel
6. Theme Park
Logo is no stranger to the Underground, having played many a shows and has even committed itself to the Underground Compilation CD3 for posterity.  Indeed I have seen the band many times both at Underground shows as well as other gigs, and it is always a pleasure to catch its sets, finding its music to be very… therapeutic!

Admittedly I was a bit surprised to find Logo opening for Capitan Tifus, the rather high energy band from Argentina.  I mentioned “therapeutic” earlier, as the band’s music, described as “future retro” (I believe by Chris B), to me is pretty chillout… there’s an air of relaxed intensity about its songs which,  I find, while relaxing, has a tendency to draw the listener into a bit of a void, and the members’ calm and collectedness on stage, all come together to create that state of blissful abyss - I don’t think describing their music as ‘psychedelic’ would be entirely inappropriate… it is a kind of a fusion between mod revival, white reggae and… psychedelic.  So, after a long day’s work on a Friday, Logo was the perfect prescription to help the audience put the week behind them, cleanse their minds and prepare them for the weekend.

– Thlayli

Capitan Tifus

1. Circo
2. Runas
3. Marisol
4. Borracho
5. Maradevi
6. Manha
7. Sarasa
8. El Rey
9. Amor Y Mucho Mas
10. Don Pirulero
11. Tero
12. Bella Cia
13. Bolsa
14. Furgon
15. Mala Vida [Encore]
16. Runas [Encore]

For the second time in their short week of being in Hong Kong, Capitan Tifus took the stage, and there was anticipation palpable in the air. Perhaps there had been, among the people, tell of a band in which, literally, everyone was dancing on stage. Or who made pretty much everyone in sight in an HK audience, stand up, dance and enjoy themselves thoroughly. Perhaps there had been tales of a band that suddenly died during a show, only to reanimate and continue playing immediately. Or, maybe it was their bohemian, slightly eccentric and fascinating appearances. Whatever it was, you could feel people willing them on to the stage. And they did not disappoint.

The first thing one would notice about them on stage is that they are a band positively buoyant with energy. Keep in mind, they were at the same level of energy for their Monday show, the same day as they had landed in HK; and all this after months of intensively touring the world. This process has worn major bands down in the past, and it’s reassuring to see bands that tour well. Their singer, Vicky, not being tied down to an instrument (except the intermittent bongo runs) made full use of her freedom, dancing with abandon, on-stage and off it (at one point even with The Underground’s own A&R man). This clearly was infectious and the people in the crowd were happily dancing along to their tunes. However, the rest of the band were dancing almost equally vigorously too; t’was a sight to behold when someone with a violin dancing. But, all for good reason, for such was their music.

Theirs is a heady, contagious sound, of which gypsy-esque Balkans tones and tunes make up largest part. However, what they cleverly do is to make their rhythms either more Latin- or more tribal sounding while still maintaining the fluid melodies that gypsy music evokes. There was also a bit of funk thrown in, as in Circo. This makes for an interesting mix, especially on their album ‘E Viva!’, where these forces can be heard melding together in different ways. However, when played live, as could be anticipated, the songs are played more forcefully, and are far more punk-tinged and more 70s rock-like than their recorded renditions. This is a wise move, and though certain subtleties are lost, this shows you a different side of the band, and also makes for a more immediately engaging show. This comes off particularly on Maradevi, and Bolsa, and the thundering encore version of Runas they did, and El Rey was almost grind-rock in feel. It certainly helps that the band are very tight indeed, and able to pull off start-stop moves and smoothly change gears in the middle of songs (which their drummer, in particular, did masterfully, along with having tremendous groove). The rootsy country-like Mala Vida, for instance, turned into a smooth Noughties pop song without batting an eyelid.

There were a couple of songs that seemed like just tokens of a style, like the samba-inspired Manha, or the light Euro-pop of Amor Y Mucho Mas, but when you’re playing an almost hour-and-a-half-long set, you can be excused a couple of misses. They have the energy of Gogol Bordello (though without the near-violence), the melodic variety of Kultur Shock or Balkan Beat Box, and the theatrical touch of Motherhead Bug. And they gave ‘prizes’ to the audience members who danced the craziest, so they have a sense of fairness too, along with their obvious sense of fun. It was terrific fun to have watched and heard them, and there are hardly better ways to finish a show than to have the audience dancing frantically, leaving them wishing for more. If they’re even in your town, or back here again, you should definitely reserve that evening to spend with this band, for you won’t regret it.

– Shashwati Kala

poster by Jesseca Dolano

photos © Copyright 2012 by ANGUS LEUNG