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Appeared in
XFresh
What:
Alternative rock gig
Where: No Black Tie.
When: 8th September 2002, 7pm (a bit late to be reading this,
aren't you?)
 First
up was Y2K, a
month-old punk cover band, covering English pop songs and write Japanese
songs. They consisted of Saiful of Iodine 39 (whose powerful
vocals and guitar grinds competed with each other), Khai of
Khaimano on bass and a cute hyperactive female Japanese drummer. :)
They hyped up the crowd with punk covers of songs by Atomic Kitten, George
Michael, Cyndi Lauper and Kiroro.
 Next
up was
Flatline, a very funky grungy alternative rock band, playing a
new song, 'Space', 'To The Movies' and 'Something To Live By'. Of all the
bands, Flatline had the most noticable basslines, with the bass turned up
to my liking. I told myself "Dangit they're good get their EP" but it
wasn't found after the show!
 Meet
Fallen Leaves, a progressive folksy grungy punkish band.
(Whatever, I don't really know my genres! :P ) With 'February Desert',
'Filler No. 1' (this catchy tune was played on some Malaysian radio
stations), 'Ever After' and 'Cloudy False Impressions'. I don't know where
I read that they were White Metal, but I don't think that this is,
or at least not those songs. :P
 Tempered
Mental was sure to turn heads with Melina
on a 5-string bass guitar and vocals as well, plus a grinding metal dude (Khoo)
reminiscent of James Iha. With Jimmy on drums, each had
excellent showmanship during each other's solos, like Khoo's
metal-god-style grinding. They played songs like one brilliant Smashing
Pumpkins/Tool collaboration, 'Space In Time' (sounding fantastically
Tool-ed), 'Trust', 'Honesty' (brand new!), 'Undone', and 'Pure' (featuring
a Flea-like bass-slapping solo!)
Next up were frat-party boys
Khaimano, with their danceable funky ska punk rock. This
six-month old band, with Khai 'I'm Not Chinese' who looked and talked like
Fly Guy the hitz.fm deejay charmed the crowd with their in-your-face
humor.
Starting off with their instantly memorable 'I'm Not Chinese', 'This Is
Black Metal' (totally ska in contrast to the title), 'Saturday Morning'
(high-energy punk), and hilarious ska number 'Cannot Get It Up'. Then came
a third-party love-song, 'Backboard Man', 'Undergraduate' (Mojam
jams in with full-on funky bass), covers of 'Twist and Shout' and 'Great
Balls Of Fire' and 'Golden Boy', inspired by a hentai movie. (All these
were based on true stories!) They provided an excellent end to an
excellent gig!
Vital statistics: 60% of the bands (except Flatline and Khaimano)
had female members playing. (Fallen Leaves had a girl fill in for drums.)
Girl power, and no, not pop girl power either!
It was fun, and a refreshing change from the rest of underground
scream-enhanced rock. Pity though that the place was obscure and small,
with a small turnout. Very worth the entrance fee of RM10. :)
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