Hear ye, The News

On a slow Tuesday evening last Sept.15 at Cuerdas bar, an alternative band stood out from the drones of emo bands who played that night. With their playful rhythmic arrangements, powerful rock progressions and lyrics one can easily relate to, they made that night worth remembering.

They call themselves The News. They formed in 2004 with the aim to compete at Red Horse's 2005 Muziklaban. And with each one's desire to express themselves and project their personalities through music, they continued on until now, and with their album 'Musikero' in the mixing stages to boot.

At the core of the band is vocalist/ rhythm guitarist Ricky. He called upon his former classmate, Carl, to man the lead guitars and second vocals.The stoic Lennon, Ricky's former bandmate, was then asked to play the bass. Completing the line-up is the power drummer, Brian, who used to be Ricky's colleague.

What caught my attention that night were their first two songs which sounded like a Foo Fighters-Offspring hybrid, despite being influenced with the likes of The Beatles, The Police, Rivermaya and Oasis to name a few. The first song,'Paano Kaya', is a song Ricky made for his GF, pondering on the idea of what would happen if he's gone. Not to worry, they're still going strong and slated to be married (congrats, dude). The second song, which I really love, is entitled 'Lies'. This one tells of their discontent with liars, and telling them to change their ways as nothing good will come out of it.

When asked why they called themselves The News, they implied that their music is like the news; straightforward and a direct message to the audience.

They plan to release 'Musikero' (coincidentally was the title of the last song of their set) before the end of the year. For noew you can check them out at their myspace page or at their video on YouTube.

Under The Starry Skies of Ursaminor

There are a lot of rock bands today but a few are able to combine their grunge roots with contemporary song writing like Ursaminor. 

Their name is derived from the little bear constellation which, as frontman Ced told, he saw while looking up at the night sky, while in a car, in one of his moments in drunken daze.

They started after guitarist/vocalist Ced came back from the US in 2005 and shared some song ideas with their neighbor Jambs, who would eventually become their bassist. Ced's sister, Yam, was later added as the permanent drummer after their previous one left. Ursaminor friend and Mayonnaise frontman Monty later replaced their former guitarist.

Ced writes the songs for the band and describes their music to be guitar and lyrically driven with sad, melancholic overtones... staying true to his main influence, the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Some may brand their music to be 'Nirvana'-like, but a close look at their arrangements reveals various harmony and progressions usually attributed to Pinoy alternative bands.

They released their EP 'A.S.C.E.T.I.C.' last 2007. I recommend listening to their songs 'Taciturn' and 'Lucky Son'. But, like all artists, nothing beats seeing the energy of their live performances. Like in their outstanding performance at the BandaFest event held last July 4 at Hard Rock Cafe, Makati. Its only in these times when you could hear the intensity of Ced's guitar playing and vocal delivery. Supported by Monty's technical ingeniuity on the guitar and Jambs' almost stoic but full bodied bass. And watching Yam get in the 'zone' by transforming into, what I call, her 'Sadako mode'.

There is their one song, which Ced tells me that is entitled 'MySQL', takes the prize as my fave Ursaminor song. There's something about it that takes me back to my late highschool-early college days. I dunno, maybe because how Ced's crooning is very similar to his late idol's, which I was heavily into that time.

Kicking It Old-School with "Antigo"

Aptly playing songs of unity and national pride, with the 'red, white, blue and yellow' banner of Freedom Bar on the background, are the young lads of Antigo. Their repertoire includes a range of 70's rock, 80's Pinoy rock and 90's Pinoy alternative covers. Along with their old school Pinoy rock inspired originals, they earned a slot in NU107's U-Rock with their song 'Tigang' and 'Liwanag' rotating in the airwaves. With such songs and influences under their belt, its no wonder they chose the name Antigo, the tagalog word for items which are old and classical in nature.

I got to see them in their Freedom bar gig last June 13 supporting the album bar tour of Bok76. In that event, one has to marvel on their technical prowess despite the band's young age. Job's glam-heavy rock vocal range is supported by Mark and Bogs' Paul Gilbert-esque guitar licks, further solidified by Drix's bass lines, all under the powerful tempo of Patrick's drums. Although I liked their originals, what grabbed my attention was their intense rendition of Sampaguita's "Nosi Balasi", Job's audition piece for the band.

It all began when Drix looked for musicians with the same musical preferences in Philmusic. In what followed as a number of auditions and referrals, they narrowed down the members to their current line-up and formally set-off on June 3, 2008.

When asked what their aim as musicians were, they said they wanted to move people with their music. To unite and instill nationalism in their listeners. In my opinion, there's no better way to convey that message than playing some good old fashioned pinoy rock with a contemporary vigor to it. 

Check em out at their multiply site for gigs and other news about Antigo.