SPECIAL ROUND-UP – Indonesian Punk Rock Swag with RAMPOG JB, THE REFUSAL, BUNGA BANGKAI & NONSENSE IDEA

OK ladies and gentlemen, I have with me quite a number of Indonesian zines, tapes & CDs gathered (given & traded) during my band’s recent trip to Java and I’ve been trying to find free time to write about them and share it you BUT so far I only managed to do TWO! Pathetic really.

Anyway, before it become as basi as the last Aedes zine in 1996 (which never came out!), here are the reports. More will be added to the list as time permits.

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RAMPOG JB
Perlawanan pro-cassette
(JB Records)

A bit like rock kapak meets 80s not-so-speedy speed-metal trying to get into the neo-street-punk territory, featuring dense rock guitar sound which reminded me of less-heavy early 90s Cromok and songs that flits between singalong celebration of their hometown (Parung) to simplistic political sloganeering against the authorities, the state and yes, wars.

If you like the early Bollocks, with a bit of rock-kapak-ism or early Cromok, it’s highly possible you’re gonna dig RAMPOG JB. This 14-song cassette came out in 2004 and traces of the band on the net is pretty scarce, but the band is from the chilly Bogor area which is pretty active with tonnes of DIY shows at the IdeGila Music Room.

[rating:2/5]

JB Records, Jl. H Mawi, No. 14, Gg Musolah, Nurul Hikmah, Parung, Bogor, Indonesia

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THE REFUSAL / BUNGA BANGKAI / NONSENSE IDEA
Continue or Die 3-Way Split pro-cassette
(Jublek Records)

Another Bogor product from 2004 featuring BUNGA BANGKAI (from the same area) with NONSENSE IDEA and THE REFUSAL, both from Jakarta Selatan. BUNGA BANGKAI apparently played the Jakarta Bersatu festival last year and I’m glad to hear they are still around.

Of the three bands here, BUNGA BANGKAI tramples over the rest in its irreverent zeal at mixing bits of rough and screechy grindcore elements with intense (and funny) mix of lightened power-violence & fastcore; all usually started with some groovy hardcore breakdowns. Charles Bronson-esque but utterly kelakore!

Their lyrics is pretty oblique too, check out Cinta Semalam; “cinta semalam, seorang pelacur, uang birahi yang dia cari, hanya kepuasan sex yang dia inginkan, tak peduli orang mencaci maki” To see a love song title such as that delivered in the band’s falling-down-the-stairs manner is a treat! But hmmm, is that admiration for a prostitute’s resilience, or is it a put down?

Anyway, the other two bands are both very different, with NONSENSE IDEA being a weak singalong street-punk and Oi! mix while THE REFUSAL threads the UK82 bits reminding me of OPPOSITION PARTY’s mid-period. Not great but like i said, BUNGA BANGKAI’s 10 storming tracks made this tape worthwhile.

[rating:3/5] for BUNGA BANGKAI
while the others are both [rating:2/5]

BUNGA BANGKAI can be contacted via the label itself, Jublek Records c/o Cepot, Jl. H Mawi, No. 14, Gg Musolah, Nurul Hikmah, Parung, Bogor, Indonesia (same address as above)

THE REFUSAL – therefusal at hotmail.com

NONSENSE IDEA – Jackie, Jl. Lebak Bulus III, No. 8, Rt. 04/Rw.08, Jakarta Selatan 12430 Indonesia

(more coming!!)