From time to time, I get Facebook messages from young local Malaysian musicians to listen to their music and give feedback. Recently, this Demo EP Link came in via a message from Luqman, the lead guitarist of the band. The message was very polite and respectful instead of demanding messages that I’ve gottten in the past.
I agreed to listen and I ended up listening to the entire MUSIKTARI Demo EP in a sitting during the first time. It reminded me of the sound of my teenage years. A strong vibe, enough energy, well thought out music and parts with good drive. This didn’t seem like a haphazardly assembled product, there was a strong sense of love for the music within the recording. It’s music I would listen to.
So there I was listening.
I ended up liking all their social media pages, their Soundcloud page, their IG, their Facebook page and I listened to their Demo EP all through. Anyhow, let’s talk about the music.
This is 5-track Demo EP. The opening number appropriately called “Intro” began with some spy film samples that went into a strong surfy drum part, surf music basslines, layered guitar parts and some wonky out of tune spy film piano lines. It had enough deliberate power to draw you into the band’s world. This was the land of retro tremolo guitar spy surf vibes.
The second track Eveny introduces a psychedelic vibe as we hear vocals for the first time. There are some nice keyboard pads and effected arpeggiated guitar. The pronunciation in the vocals reveals the fact that this is a Malaysian singer with a Malaysian accent but there is a charm to it. The bridge section with the wordless vocals creates a good contrast before going back to the chorus.
High energy drums come back with the third track Philosophy. A very distinct style is kept here as I can hear the band’s direction in the EP. The rhythmic hits on the tracks with the counterpoint between the guitar licks, bassline and distorted vocals is charming and catchy.
Track 4, Shunta Semalam begins with an out of tune sounding rhythm guitar part but with strong drive. Eventually, the Malay lyrics come in pushing in with the bass and drumbeat. At this point, I starting hearing more personality in the music. For me, I would personally love to hear the band explore and write more in Malay. The vocals sound stronger, more melodically expressive and the lyrics come across with more personality now that the pronunciation is not in the way of the music. The outro part had a Beatles vibe before going into a nice guitar solo quoting part of the song’s riff expanding and going off with a nice tremolo picked line descending into the final chorus. There’s something special in this song and in this band captured right here.
The closing track, Bad Reason – goes back into English lyrics which at this point is still nice but is somewhat of a drop in the vibe since it kind of peaked at Shunta Semalam. It’s not that this track is not cool, it’s actually super cool but I heard the potential of the band with the Malay lyrics just a track before.
TLDR: If you like alternative indie pop (as they described themselves, if you know what that means), have a listen to the band. Get their CD if you dig it. Info on how to buy the physical CD is below and you can listen to the entire EP on their Soundcloud page embedded below.
Look out for The Fuze, Malaysia.
Rating: 3.7/5
How to buy:
You can get the physical copy of the CD by contacting the band directly via their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/thefuzeband/
[About The Fuze]
The Fuze is an alternative indie pop band from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Established in January 2018. The name Fuze was inspired from “FUSE” which is an important to an electronic or electric system. The band use this metaphore to deliver our music passionately.
The Fuze’s music are influenced by bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Bittersweet, Hujan, Maroon 5, The Killers, Muse, Tipling Rock.
The Fuze music has an alternative indie pop undertone combined with many other genre like Brit-Pop, Indie Rock and RockNRoll.In July 2018, The Fuze has produce their first EP named “MUSIKTARI”.
[Submissions for Review Consideration]
- Have you released an EP or album of music (within the genres of jazz, instrumental guitar and/or fingerstyle guitar)?
- Would you like me to review your EP/album?
Please send me a message at azsamad2 at gmail.com with:
For Physical CDs: Please e-mail me to inquire for my mailing address.
For Downloads: a link to the music (Dropbox or equivalent webhosting), not WeTransfer or any site with limited time download as I may be travelling and not have access to fast internet at all times.
Depending on whether I dig the music, I’ll let you know if I do plan to review it!
I CANNOT guarantee a review for every submission & if I’m not too into it, I may opt not to review it. I mean, it’s better to get a good review that for me to write a bad review just because it’s not a match for the kind of stuff I dig right? :p
NOTE: All reviews reflect my honest personal opinion so be aware that I will point out both cool Pros and Cons that I see in the work. You dig? 🙂