Music Review: Surely you didn't say that! Ang Bandang Shirley's 'Tama Na Ang Drama'

I have grown to appreciate Ang Bandang Shirley's capacity to marry memorable tunes with the quintessential lyrical themes of love and loss. They've set themselves apart by their choice of metaphors that sometimes brings a fresh take to some supposedly stale themes. For instance, my favorite song from their first album “Themesongs” (Terno Recordings, 2008) likened love to the kind of games kids here play on the streets. Even when this metaphor is old hat, the charm is almost Wes-Andersonian in the way it uses the familiar and makes it fresh and utterly beautiful.  “Tama Na Ang Drama” is the second album from this ensemble whose conscious influence was the pop-inflected rock of the Eraserheads. The work highlights a sound that, like their heroes, evolved as their lives and music changed over the years. A very good example of this would be the fan favorite “Nakauwi Na,” written by Ean Aguila (a very distant relative, apparently). In recent years, the band has made this the finale of their live sets, and rightly so. It has a memorable opening line that rises and falls, and leads into verses and refrain sung in lovely harmony. Here, the refrain is the clincher, one that evokes a lot of good memories for the listener and, from experience, is easy to pick up:

The “Tama Na... ” is now a more collegial effort, with almost all of the members (even their manager, Kathy Gener) contributing something to the mix. In contrast, founder Owel Alvero wrote all but three of the songs in their first album. One of the notable contributions is Selena Salang's “Glacier,” a song that reminds me of some of the better stuff I have heard in the 1990s; the lyrics are a thoughtful meditation on the failure of a relationship. Salang's own solo act, Slow Hello, is about to produce an album, and I am looking forward to hearing more of her music. Gener's vocals can be heard on another of the album's better moments, the one where it borders on novelty. “Acid Reflux” features a bridge with a Santana-esque guitar solo by Jerome Velasco and quite a bit of coughing. I first heard this live at the launch and I broke out into a smile upon hearing it. In taking on different styles in some places, the band is exploring how it can best continue telling the stories it is good at telling. This is where I find some hope in their future—they will have a chance if, as they did, continue to take their time. Perhaps it is the impatience of the age that forces us to think that four years is too long. It is noteworthy that one of my favorite songs of 2012 is on this album. “Di Na Babalik” was from the soundtrack of the film “What Isn't There” (which we know around these parts as “Ang Nawawala”), which has just been selected to join Sundance's edgier younger sibling Slamdance next year. Even in an earlier form, I fell in love with this tune, and for me it marked a sea change in the kind of music I preferred. Finally, I see in this record a much-needed convergence between contemporary music and the visual arts. The collective Saturnino Basilia was responsible for the album's art direction, and Dina Gadia, whose earlier work was one of the first visual arts exhibitions I wrote about long ago, made the album's cover. It is good to see a group of musicians encouraging their listeners (in a subtle way) to explore the visual arts and to hopefully discover the talents we have in that field. — DVM, GMA News Album art by Dina Gadia courtesy of Wide Eyed Records Manila Ren Aguila writes about music, film, and health for GMA News Online. He enjoys seeing Ang Bandang Shirley live, and also says that it's music one can dance to.