This Is/Is Not A Jacket

This is a jacket.

This is a varsity jacket. 

This is the University Band Varsity Jacket. 

It was one of our secondary skins that we sought refuge in, during civic military festival parades.

It was the skin we wore proudly playing fanfare during varsity matches.  

It was a skin of shining hope donned when playing Christmas carols to bedridden elderly and wide eyed kids. 

It was a skin of armor, shielding from ridicule and ignorant calls who never understood why would play around to lighted tree without any audience, or why we are a band but don't play the radio hits. 

It was a skin of comfort for the long early morning travels and late night arrivals, as the nagging truth gnaws that while most of our schoolmates are fast asleep, we are still pushing musical instruments and scores in utility carts on ghostly halls.  

It was a skin of accountability that kept us on call for four years and more to skip weekends and holidays in almost military fashion and discipline.

It was a skin of resilience, enduring late night rehearsals, and no-apologies mentoring from the band professor, fueling the drive to nail a musical phrase right. 

It was a skin of sigh embracing us until we heard our names called onstage to receive the college diploma. 

Unknown to most, for most of us it was our real skin. The skin that cannot betray the soul, a soul that was hungry for Miles, Bartok, San Pedro, Sousa, Bird, Trane, and more. 

This is a University Band Varsity Jacket, now tattooed in my soul.

This is not a jacket. 






2.19.20 BMT

  

Night of the Open High Hats

(Rust Pocket EP Launch, 4.1.2017, Tippy's Bistro BCD)

Well, that  Ringo. Or Richard Starkey.  Ringo Starr dual handedly canonized the open high hat slam to rock and roll highway. “How potent is that?” we may ask. The answer rings as any hard hitting drummer could hit, and it is a reverberating answer until 2017. So potent,  as  rock is alive and well.  And it still pumps fists in the air. 

Like the first of April, 2017 when we all convened at Tippy’s Bistro under the same ringing sound coming from a unit us grunge-y as their name might sound. Rust Pocket may evoke an industrial vibe – or even a steampunk visual- but it is neither of that. The quartet of Matt Montalbo (vocals), Cabomon Villagomez  (guitar),  Aldwin Alcantara (drums) and Larry Polvoroza (bass) packs that grit,  making one swear this is a band from the post-Nirvana era. And literally they are – as the Rusts (or Pockets, whatever you may) began writing the tracks to their recently released EP under Drowning Sun Records during that era.  And here we are, for their album launch.

Before the band steps in, opening acts lie up armed with originals. Matt, for tonight, is the ad hoc emcee.

Yantra begins with an improvised set of originals – and bravely, even portions in the dialect – accompanied by her iPad.  Ambient and tongue-in-cheek triphop elements evoke Portishead and even Bjork. Influences aside, it is Yantra in her element which keeps one amazed if it is her lost in the music, the music lost in her, or both. 

Next comes Uling, a punk trio reminding us how most of us get into bands in the first place – wide eyed, defiant, and human. They sing about exes, currency and broken hearts – in less than 4 minutes.  I would just have to chime in that despite the raw urgency guitarist manages to throw in a bag of tricks a fellow guitarist can smell miles away. Neat-O.

There’s something about femme fronted heavy bands. Spending Pendulum and Scroll Down. Both can careen of love lost without coming in as pretentious. Yet vulnerability is betrayed as the rhythm sections of these units come in with riffs like bulldozers. Don’t be fooled – Pendulum and Scroll pack the yin and yang elements clean – yielding a dynamic sound that treads on both ends of the sound spectrum. More angry guitars in here, added to generous doses of whacked hi-hats.

Closing the front acts was the amazing duo of Hush Hush, a bare bones unit of drums and guitar – similar to the Jack White’s template with The White Stripes. The influence is not lost in this one, as guitarist frontman El Cid Elumba liberally quotes White's signature riffs midsong.

Then comes Matt’s transformation from hesitant emcee to the towering front man.  

Rust Pocket begin with “Hole”, an exercise in exorcism of relationships lost. Rust may be part of the band’s name, but it surely is nowhere to be found in this power quartet tonight.  Rust Pocket comes as a well- oiled rock juggernaut that may have been transported from Seattle scene circa 1990s, the heydays of hard alternative rock. Aldwin on drums lays down sick grooves on shifting time signatures, tightly in step with Larry’s bass. Despite the overall aggressive sound, their songs remain true to power grooves reminiscent of S.C.I.E.N.C.E –era Incubus, Tool –worthy rawness and even at times, Deftones.  Tight enough for Cabomon’s solo guitar chores, who deliciously provides chime-y arpeggios one moment and churning power fifths the next.  But on top of all that is Matt’s low register drawl with that back-of-the-throat vibrato channeling Eddie Vedder.  When one hear him declare that he knows in “I Know”, one senses the urgency and defiance to the powers and systems that be.  “Quicksand” and “Blind Mute” remains true anthems to isolation and loneliness, while the closer “Brain Dead” is the last heave. Now the crowd has gathered upfront, singing along to the words “never remember the pain, so leave my head and be dead”.  

And what opened with the steady prodding of the open hi-hats is closed with a cymbal crash – driving all the inner demons away. Well, thank you, Sir Ringo.   

TianoBM2017

RUST POCKET's EP is released under Drowning Sun Records. 

FB Links: 

Rust Pocket

Uling

Scroll Down 

Spending Pendulum  

Drowning Sun Records

There are no links available for Yantra and Hush Hush

Frac/tions were not able to perform due to circumstances

One More Experiment

My chemistry days were over, so I thought. That is, until I stumbled onto a recent experiment that was too tempting not to pry my fingers at.

It’s quite a messy experiment, the one that we all love. First there’s the term “rock”, which covers everything from the Beatles to Jack White and all in between. Then there’s “acoustic’, which may refer to sonic properties of materials or the symphonic instruments. Add a generous dash of the “blues” and we still are amazed in 2017 how it roots from deltas, yet deluges the whole planet. 

The key lies on the final element:  “experiment”. A little mix of the above given elements under the daring mind of Mr. Stephen Lu and we get an interesting hybrid which is The Rockoustic Blues Experiment.  For starters. Lu is no stranger to the blues, as evidenced by his larger than life hits with then Rizal Underground, “Sabado Nights” and “Bilanggo”. 

Lest the word “blues” create a stereotype of endless 12 or 8-bar jams, nope. TRBE is more than that.

TRBEs debut indie album, “In-Flight” contains six cuts plus two bonus minus-one tracks:  Ilaw, Kapag Ikaw ang Kasama ko, Mahal na Mahal Kita, Brown and White, Loveland, and Wait for Me.  It is an album that sings of a love bittersweet - save for one track, Brown and White (a song celebrating humanity underneath the colors and status).

The team of Lu (acoustic guitar, vocals), Bonglennon (guitars), Pex Holigores (bass), Nikko Tirona (drums), and Edgar Mendoza (keyboards) concocts one solid groove over a steady chugging pace.  How does it sound like? Sonically, we get the necessaries: solid acoustic rhythm guitar, Keef-worthy chunky parts, tight drums and bass, and nice doses of vintage piano parts. Think of post -Beatles Harrison or pre-Eagles Walsh, and even Robert Cray. The overall mix fits perfectly at home in the periodic table of Pinoy Rock.  Lu tops it with a voice that careens one moment, and then turns to raspy brawl –perfect for the material.  And the mandatory solos? Not a problem - as guests take turn to add their unique elements to the brewing rock mix.

The album takes an entirely different breath live. 

 

Bonglennon stands, cigarette clipped between pinky and ring finger a la Clapton, while churning meaty tele riffs. Pex, the bearded bass man, lays own the rock solid groove which at times, hint his influences of reggae-ish behind the beat feel. If this then be an experiment, Edgar catalyzes the mix with a thick amount of blues licks or a good chord bed on vintage keys. Nikko rolls steadily like a drummer’s drummer – right in the pocket. Lu the frontman carries the “oomph” (or swag for the millineal/mosaic readers), like a cross between Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. And as some wise alchemist, Lu leads the band through the terrain from smooth to bumpy rides. A little trade of solos here, a breakdown there, a sudden detour to traditional blues forms – make the whole experiment interesting and fun.  

 

Collectively the band knows well when to let the explosions fly. And when they do, we get our fix of burns and dents right before our noses.  But we all know that lab explosions and pops often predate those ‘eureka’ moments.  And like any experiment, we can therefore conclude that TRBE – works fine. Really fine.

TianoBM2017

Album guests:

Lead guitars, Ilaw : Peter Vinco

Lead guitars, Kapag Ikaw ang Kasama Ko: Jun Lopito

Vocals, Loveland: Ramone Rodriguez

Harmonica, Loveland: Ian Lofamia

Wurlitzer, Loveland: Butch Saulog

Bass, Loveland: Maly Paraguya

Band links:

The Rockoustic Blues Experiment Album Tour VIsayas

The Rockoustic Blues Experiment