Real 'Punks', where you at?

'You call yourselves one of us but you listen to shit like K-pop?!'

'You are not a real punk!'

Through the years, I have heard and received those sort of comments from the 'real punks' due to being in a punk band but not looking the part. First of all, just to clarify AGAIN, I have never, ever considered myself a punk. Why would I? I have lived a fulfilling life so far, good upbringing, great family, great friends and a great education. I never had to starve, I have a roof over my head and good company around me. In fact, playing punk music have never crossed my mind considering my love for indie music. I ended up playing in a band like The Misfit Ramones for a good 4 years and counting now because I have always love the energy and raw intensity of punk rock music. 

But when it comes to walking the walk, me and a couple of friends including my good friend Justin who is also TMR's bassist, Raf (Blank Shot drummer) and James (ex-RPM, ex-Supertzar lead guitarist) headed up north to KL to watch Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg feat. Michael Graves, ex Misfits frontman. When I first heard the news of them touring SEA, my jaw dropped. 2 of the biggest names and icons in the history of punk will be coming to play near me. There was absolutely no way I can even contemplate to miss this. Justin, Raf and James shared my view and so comes the elaborate planning to travel there prior to the show. 

And when we got there, mind you, the trip wasn't smooth-sailing at all. This is no holiday or vacation. This is a mission. 4 plain guys with a love and passion for The Ramones and Misfits to watch our legends in action in a foreign land. Bumpy bus ride from JB's Larkin to KL's Bandar Tasik Selatan, with the bus doing pit stops along the way, even stopping at Seremban in Negeri Sembilan! A supposedly 4 hr bus ride took 6 hrs with only one toilet break along the way. The train ride to the place we stay was hell with the crazy crowd and non-existent aircon. I swear one stranger ended up hugging my bag pack from the back to allow at least another person to squeeze in. We could settle for a proper hotel but we chose a potentially disappointing guesthouse to cut cost with shared bathrooms, kitchen and common smoking room with other guests (which ended up being the best decision we ever made). We settled for street foods and vendors instead of restaurants with air-conditioner for our meals.

There was also this one other tiny factor that could make our trip potentially disastrous. A planned mass demonstration called Bersih 3.0 was scheduled to happen that very weekend, the day of Marky Ramone's show in fact. 75000 people ended up participating in the protest and they were to gather at Dataran Merdeka, which is pretty close to our guesthouse in Chinatown. What started out to be a peaceful demonstration turned ugly midway with teargases being thrown and the protesters retaliated by burning a police car. Luckily for us, we were not affected by these heated battles as we're already out but our friends at the guesthouse we stay were affected by the teargas, which hurt their eyes for awhile despite them staying in. Crazy stuff!

Even though we are out, again the travelling was tough which the roads being closed, and as for the LRT, we had to miss at least 6 trains before we could board one with all the trains being occupied by the protesters. Our struggles continued even after we reached our venue at Bukit Jalil! Show that was slated to start at 6pm as per stated in the poster and concert ticket, started at 8pm instead. The wait there was mentally tiring as we already were tired from the crazy scenes in Chinatown and trains from earlier. 

But once the show started, all the struggles seemed worth it. Seeing Marky Ramone and Michael Graves in flesh, was absolutely surreal. The many Ramones classics came fast and furious, one after another. Michael surprised all by playing a couple of Misfits classics include Descending Angel and Saturday Night on the acoustic, and the band played Dig Up Her Bones to the delight of the crowd. The band ended off a solid 1 and half hr set with the signature Blitzkrieg Bop and that was it. 

So while we're out there struggling and chasing our dreams just to catch a glimpse of these legends live, the question I have is, real punks, where you at? Where are you guys when 2 of the greatest punk rock icons came to KL? If it's cash, well Raf almost didn't went due to monetary problems but he managed to find a short part-time job just a few days before the show to fund for thr trip. If it's time, I applied for leave from NS despite already using up a lot of my vacation leaves. Interest? Well that's interesting since James is playing in a Top 40s mainstream band but he loved Misfits when he was younger and that told himself he must watch Graves live, at least once in his life. We are all busy people but we made sacrifices to go there nonetheless. 

I may listen to Kpop in my spare time, James may play Nicki Minaj with his band, we may have other interests that doesn't really fit into the punk culture or ideologies. But one thing we never do, is we never compromise. When it comes to our love for punk rock music, we go all out. Our other interests should never come in between that. Moral of the story is, as cliche as it sounds is that, we should never judge a book by its cover. A person who looks boring like us may know or love punk rock more than a guy who wears studded jackets, sports a mohawk or wears a boot. I did not write this post to brag or tell the whole how punk I am by going to a Marky Ramones concert. I just hope that these 'punks' should try to back up their claims instead of ranting about how someone is a real punk or not simply by judging instead of knowing.

But what do I know eh? I'm not a punk. I'm just an ordinary guy who plays punk rock. :)

Concert Review: Sum 41 Live in Singapore

Canadian Juno Award-winning, pop punk superstars Sum 41 was in town on Thursday to play a show at Fort Canning Gate. Their latest full length effort which they are supporting on their current world tour, ‘Screaming Bloody Murder’, was released last year to critical acclaim and their song ‘Blood In My Eyes’ was even nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance which they eventually lost to Foo Fighters. Singapore was to be their 2^nd last stop in Asia before they head to KL this Saturday.

The show didn’t start off as planned in the eyes of the crowd as we had to wait for more than an hour (show started at 9.15pm instead of the slated 8.00pm) and there were no opening acts to entertain us. The worse part was the venue were repeating the same songs over and over again (ACDC’s Highway to Hell were played at least 3-5 times) to the dismay of the crowd. The promoters who brought in Sum 41, LinVan Productions could take into consideration for their future shows to play songs of the same genre of the bands that were slated to play for the impatient crowd or at the very least, NOT repeat the songs.

But as soon the show started, nothing else matters. The speakers blasted ACDC’s TNT and the crowd started singing along and finally the band walked into the stage to play their first song off their latest album, ‘Reason to Believe’. After that, it was an all-out punk rock affair. I was pleasantly surprised that Sum 41 decided to play more of their old hits than their new ones. Almost all of the crowd favourites such as We’re All to Blame, In Too Deep, Motivation, Hell Song and Still Waiting were played to the delight of the crowd. We were also treated to the trademark metal covers by the band including Judas Priest’s Breaking The Law and Metallica’s Master of Puppets. Lead guitarist Tom Thacker or ‘BrownTom’ as frontman Deryck Whibley affectionately called him showed that he could hold his own on the lead guitar. Dave ‘Brownsound’ Baksh, the wildly popular ex-lead guitarist who left in 2006 may considered a better lead guitar player by old fans, but Tom proved that he doesn’t pale in comparison and definitely a good fit for a band like Sum 41.

Sum 41 left the stage early after an hour but the crowd screamed for more for the traditional encore performance and the band came out with 2 more classics Fat Lip and Pain for Pleasure. All in all, Sum 41 played an immaculate set. The small and intimate crowd absolutely adore and lapped up everything that the band threw out to them. They jumped, moshed, sang-along and even created a circle pit which I’m sure the band appreciated. Deryck, Cone, Stevo and Tom were energetic from start to end, showcasing their quality as a veteran pop-punk act. To sum41 it all up (pardon the wordplay), it was a night to remember. I went home with a couple of souvenirs namely a bruised chest and cheek after getting caught in the circle pit and elbowed, dirty pants and shoes due to the mud, but it was all worth it. Thank you Sum 41 for a kickass show!

Worldwide Transgression Album Review

Malaysia’s premier post-hardcore outfit Love Me Butch released their latest full length studio effort ‘Worldwide Transgression’ early this year to great anticipation. Their previous album ‘This Is The New Pop’ had already certified them as Malaysia’s cream of the crop in the post-hardcore/alternative local scene but that album was released 5 years ago and fans have been itching for more from the band. 5 years may seem like eternity but I assure you that the time was well spent by the band to release the best effort as possible.

‘Worldwide Transgression’ consists of 10 songs (if you take away track no 1 called Intro). Fans may already have been familiar with their songs such as ‘Come Out, Come Out’, ‘Generation S.O.S’ and ‘Knock Yourself Out’ as they have performed it before on studio sessions and we are finally treated to the studio versions of them. Older fans looking for another ‘Hollywood Holiday’ or ‘Barricade’ here may be disappointed as this album is heavier in general. However ‘Worldwide Trangression’ certainly does not fare worse, in fact collectively it is a much more solid release with a more mature sound compared to their previous effort. Standout tracks would be the 7 minute long title track ‘Worldwide Transgression’, ‘The Promise’ and ‘Generation S.O.S’ among others.

There are 2 factors which made Love Me Butch successful, namely Syarul and Wing Meng. With no disrespect to the rhythm section which holds steady on the bass and drums, Syarul’s soaring vocals and screams and Wing Meng’s creative riffs are what made Love Me Butch, well Love Me Butch. Syarul is absolutely flawless in this album with his vocals, providing strong emotions which listeners can relate to. Wing Meng on the other hand lets his fingers do the talking with some amazing work on his axe. ‘We Are All You’ve Got ‘and ‘Knock Yourself Out’ are some examples of his face-melting guitar work which are showcased time and again throughout the album.

Overall, this is one solid post-hardcore release. To be honest, I have always expected this to be an amazing album even before listening to any of the songs. That’s how high the standards Love Me Butch have set themselves for their fans and I can safely say majority of the listeners will enjoy this album. Non-listeners who are fans of Killswitch Engage or As I Lay Dying should enjoy this album as well. With the release of ‘Worldwide Transgression’, Love Me Butch must be regarded as the Kings of Post-Hardcore not just in Malaysia, but in South East Asia as well.

Band: Love Me Butch

Album/EP: Worldwide Transgression

Tracks: 11

Standout Songs: Worldwide Transgression, The Promise, Generation S.O.S
Sounds Like: Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying

Get Love Me Butch's Worldwide Transgression at Boards 'N' Stuffs Cineleisure for only $15! (For residents in Singapore only)