Cerebral rock
Artist : Sajama Cut
Album : The Osaka Journals
Label : Universal Music Indonesia
Rating : *** 1/2 out of *****
Standout tracks : Fallen Japanese, Lagu Tema, Alibi
There's been many times in the history of rock music when a groundbreaking act pops out of a vacuum -- a band or performer bursts out of nowhere, owing nothing to their predecessors or the music scene around them.
Take Detroit punk progenitor The Stooges or punk's pioneer romantics Television, for example. Both created fresh new sounds that went against the grain of their contemporaries. The Stooges introduced punk when the world was immersed in acid rock, while Television played cerebral rock when punk's minimalism had reached a zero-crescendo in the mid-1970s.
Jakarta's quintet Sajama Cut takes the road once traversed by those rock greats.
Sajama Cut is part of the blossoming indie-music scene inhabited by bands such as The Brandals, Sore and The Upstairs. They cut 11 tracks for this impressive debut in January 2005 and the album's release has coincided with the growing popularity of local bands.
The band's country sound in the debut album The Osaka Journals has little connection with the less-than-interesting mainstream music scene in the country.
If only more local bands honed their songwriting craft to conceive polished, radio-friendly songs, Peterpan and Dewa for example -- Sajama Cut's music has a wonderfully loose charm, out- of-tune vocals and undecipherable image-rich lyrics, mostly in English.
The band's signature is the warm sound of jangling guitar, reminiscent of Peter Buck's sound in R.E.M's early days. Another strong point is the eerie vocals of singer Marcel Thee, which are at times muffled deep in the mix. Aside from R.E.M, the band admitted that indie pop heroes Bright Eyes, The Fall and Guided By Voices were their biggest sources of inspiration.
A combination of the two elements was best captured in the first single Fallen Japanese, which has a happy-sad melody that will not wear thin after repeated listens. Ornamented by lush choral harmonies from band members, the song is the album's crowning glory.
In spite of Sajama Cut's indie inclination, The Osaka Journals bears traces of tunes from mainstream rock radio. Alibi borrows the riff from Coldplay's Yellow whilst Less Afraid could easily be mistaken for an outtake from The Strokes' album.
In the ocean of fake performers with rock-star attitude, Sajama Cut is a much-needed breath of fresh air. -- M. Taufiqurrahman