Bogor punkers Panic! have a new album out and as I believe punk is one of the genres not represented in my coverage of the Indonesian scene, let’s amend that situation right now!
With a total playing time of 16:54 it’s a perfect length to play while I’m walking to the bus station to catch a bus to work. And I don’t mind punk music.
Realita is a a punk of melodic variety, with 7 songs of an average length (that means, from the opening 1:38 long “Aku Harus Bagaimana?” to the longest one “Stop Isu S.A.R.A.” clocking in 3:44).
Opening with the aforementioned “Aku Harus Bagaimana?”, this is basically the intro for the Panic! ’s material. You either like it or not and that how it goes, you know. The melodic riffs are paired with a nice, clean vocals and choruses sung by the band and although I like my punk little on the rougher side, bordering on HC, I have no problem with this neither.
“Stop Isu S.A.R.A.” is even better. You can’t fault the Panic! for anything basically – there’s melody, good sounding riffs, choruses and vocals you can sing along with (if you know Indonesian, that is). And I bet many of you will hear “Susanna” instead “Isu S.A.R.A.” 🙂
But guys are not afraid of the English language neither, as proved in the 3rd track titled “Let Me Be Yours”. I don’t get all the lyrics, but that’s OK, who cares? The song itself is a nice happy tune, continuing in the overal genre’s setting. Nothing revolutionary here, but neither nothing unlikeable.
However, with “Sang Martir” the music is getting exactly how I like my punk. Strong bassline, simple – but catchy – melody, an opinionated vocal. That’s punk everywhere, and that’s punk in Indonesia too! I have to say this one is out of the line (in a good way) from the rest of the material and quite probably my fave song from this album.
“Hujan Di Kota Ini” follow the line of the previous songs (except “Sang Martir”, as mentioned), but I think the longer playing time doesn’t suit this genre, 3:15 is probably little too much for a punk song. Not that I am complaining though…
…and the titular song “Realita” quickly comes with the remedy. This one smells of the proper rebel attitude, which I prefer over the happy-clappy pop-punk songs. And as such it wins over those.
The final song is a nice accoustic number “Dengan Dirimu”, with the accoustic guitar and and accordeon (do I hear that correctly?). And it’s just nice. What else to say. If you have a melodic vein in your body, you’ll like it in a second.
Give it a listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/3CVRqREOC0SeQGIZ6SGTgT?si=8KB0ZJYlT_iVskwN6_ewZw&nd=1
and give guys a shout through their IG account: https://www.instagram.com/panicpunk_official/
By the way – punk’s really not dead!
