Riang Ria DIY #6, July 26, Blue Planet, KL – A Review

hello,

had a lovely day today. there's a lull in the storm which is the big
carimakan project we're doing and so I managed to sneak out and go see
Riang Ria DIY #6 gig at the Blue Planet (the busiest KL venue these
days, gigs on every weekend and fully booked up right till December!).
Heard that there were 9 bands on the bill but I didn't see all of them,
distracted by the pleasure of meeting the usual kakis and participating
in the usual talk cock scenario.

The venue was packed as I went in to check out old school HC heroes
Disaster Funhouse, the fourth band to play. DF has been a missing
fixture in the recent happenings of the local DIY milieu, what with the
band members married with kids and stuff, so for me it felt like
managing to tear away and see the recent The Bollocks reunion (of which
I didn't manage to attend due to a tiny familial matter). It's like a
rare sighting of an old favourite flame, so to speak.

Anyway, DF played a short set of 5 tunes, thus dampening my spirit a
wee bit as I was expecting a hell lot more. Apparently they had
problems rehearsing (as Boy told me later) but it was a good set,
marred only by the rather lengthy in-between-song pauses (a continuing
annoying feature of the local scene which needs much kicking, me
thinks). As expected, it was a full on reckless, sharp and short HC as
Minor Threat and Youth of Today would have it back in the day. Loadsa
slamming, singing along, air punching and stuff; nostalgic but rather
refreshing in the midst of the usual barrage of Swedish unrelenting
hardcore punk grunt popular these days. The last time I saw a good
oldschool HC band was Second Combat but Disaster Funhouse had an
earlier printing of the HC DNA which made me think of the even earlier
local "almost-straight-edge" heroes Against Racism of Today (ART). Much
fun was consumed and so my day was made.

And more. Last Minute from Puchong followed after DF and it was a
surprise as I was expecting the usual bunch of full-on blasting and
usually dire try-to-grindcore kids but I got a dual girl-boy vocal
hardcore punk of the yummy kind, a step or two into modern HC but
without the metal bits. Fast, pedal to the floor and pretty intense
with melodic parts inserted at choice points. I was wondering if they
were playing covers but I do think there were originals in that great
set. So yeah, another new name to look out for: Last Minute from
Puchong!

After that I decided to fill up my other quota of the day. Lunch. So
off I went to nearby KLCC with a friend to sample the great fishball
mee soup (with extra fishballs) at the other food court in the mammoth
(the one on the top floor). Amazing as usual, especially when you pour
in loadsa cili padi and soy sauce. Yum!

When we got back to Blue Planet somebody mentioned Singapore's My
Precious were on stage, so I hurried there only to be jammed at the
doorway by people crowding over the stage-side. I ended up watching the
first few songs on a videocam display held by somebody recording the
band on stage. These first few songs proved to be infectious, so I
wriggled through to the other side of the stage, peeking through
shoulders and skinny bums aloft on the railings. My Precious was
awesome. I don't know how to brand it apart this lame description:
hectic, screamo emo violence whatever. It's Angelhair and all that San
Diego post-punk-ish HC of the last five years before they went and
formed No Depression bands!

The drummer was the guy who enthralled me and my friends on a rare
Singapore visit many years ago, when he was drumming for the great Jhai
Allai. He's part jazz, part grindcore, part funky drum-god. As awesome
as that mysterio who played in Italian early heroes Peggio Punx, only
he doesn't have a cowbell in tow. Intuitive, creative and loose limbed
- a drummer of dreams. The bassist was also something else too while
the guitarist preferred to play sans distortion most of the time, thus
bringing in that chiming, open-chords very rare in this sort of
madness. Two gal handled the vocals and sometimes they would go onto
this melodic top 40 bits which is just adorable. I just wished Blue
Planet had a better set of amps and PA. With gigs happening there
allatime and successfully so, I can't help wondering why these people
didn't offer a better set of sound equipment on stage. Dang!

After that, another band ambled onstage but I was a bit too tired to
stay. Off I went downstairs for another talk cock session and 15
minutes later ended up in Kampung Baru having kerang rebus, baby kailan
ikan masin and crispy ayam goreng kunyit with my nasi. Yum!

Gig Booty – stuff I got off the DIY tables:

1. Jalan. Jatuh. Lari #1 zine – (A3 folded into A5 size) nicely done,
all-bahasa, pro-printed hardcore punk zine. Haven't gone through it yet
but there's a big feature on the recent The Bollocks reunion show, an
explanation into the recent credit-card scam scandal done by two local
distros which affected the local and Singapore DIY scene, tonnes of
music and zine reviews and also a couple of columns. Highly recommended.

write to Fizi Napalm <broken_noise@...> for more info.

2. Personality Liberation Front #3 – (68-page, A5, xeroxed)
anarcho-punk zine from South Brisbane, Australia. No time to go read
this as yet but it looks promising. When I was in Australia recently,
it seems that the larger and active part of the OZ anarcho diy scene
was in Brisbane, not in the other cities and this shows in PLF's
coverage. Loadsa columns talking arguing about the god and bad of
compact discs, punk mullets (!), happiness, isolation, girl zines VS
boy zines, etc. A lot to read and unlike many other politico-punk
zines, it's not direly serious allatime.

I got this from the Coalition people, so write to:
coalitioners@yahoo,com for info

3. The Coalition Zine #1 – (48-page, xeroxed) a zine by the Coalition
people themselves. A lotta columns, mostly by the tireless Terengganu
kids like Fazri, Shabri, Mat Pang, Nizang Jellybelly, Mat Yie
Dakootyroaches and more. Also articles such as a short into into the
art of street performances written by somebody called xBearx which very
well done, a lengthy Indon scene report, interviews with KT's new combo
18 Valencia, the amazing Jhai Alai, Second Combat and the inevitable
audio and gig reviews. Another good one.

Write to: coalitioners@yahoo,com for info

4. Kepala Pengat #2 – (4-page, A5, xeroxed) a short newsletter by
Nizang Jellybelly. Bits and bobs, a lilttle run on the recent
Dialectical Boredominism gig at the Blue Planet and a lil news on the
Terengganu happenings. Short and free.

Write to nervousrecs@...

5. Rai Ko Ris – Guerilla tape

The first proper release on cassettes from Nepal's one and only Rai Ko
Ris. My tape player's fucked so I can't say but as many of you have
seen them playing Unclogged moons ago, this tape's a must!

Write to: coalitioners@yahoo,com for info

6. Marjinal – Termarjinalkan tape

Another tape I bought from the Coalition stall. They said it sounds
like a street-punk band and according to the lirik sheet, it's all
bahasa with finely written heavy political tunage. Marjinal is from
Jakarta it seems, with mohawks and bondage gear in tow! Thinking
mohawks is always a rare breed. Should be good.

Write to: coalitioners@yahoo,com for info


oraiti then people! Come Mnday and I'll be back on the grind for
atleast two weeks straight, so do expect me rambling on about the
upcoming Unclogged Merdeka Day confirmation in two weeks time lah. It's
on! but the bands amsih belum confirm. I need time to do dat. To those
band who wrote in, sorry for not replying. I'll be contacting yous once
I'm done with this carimakan/bayarsewa project!

cheers,

Joe

p/s: those who are on broadband, do check out The VSS (ex-Angelhair)
and weep!