Revamped music group Slank has new album

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): "Ssh... look, Slank has new members," whispered a young lady in the audience. "Are they as good as the old ones?" whispered another.

Yes. Slank has two new members (again), Abdi Negara on synthesizer and Ridho on lead guitar, making this the band's 14th formation since 1983.

Fans have stuck with the changes thus far as Slank has retained its identity of playful music and lyrics.

Slank's music, which defies conventional norms of harmony and composition, is a jumble of blues, hard-rock, reggae and lots of out-of-nowhere cacophony.

And its vocabulary is pithy, simple streetwise language that would have Indonesian linguists throw their hands up in trepidation.

Of the last split, the teenybopper fans say members were divided over whether to go more commercial or be 'more ideal', leaving the current formation with members willing to yield to market demands for love songs.

What's important is that Slank is set to prove its commitment after blues bassist Bongky Marcel, guitarist Parlin "Pay" Burnama and keyboard player Indra Qadarsih quit the band.

On Jan. 20 , Slank released its seventh album,Tujuh (Seven), at the Hard Rock Cafe as a part of its ngamen (busker) show titled Lagi Prihatin (Suffering).

But the audience took longer to warm up than usual, possibly because of the new formation and a few teasing songs which the well-to-do among the audience may have felt uncomfortable with.

The keyboard has also been replaced with a synthesizer, part of a promise of more "vigorous" music, said Bimo "Bimbim" Sidharta, the band's founder and drummer.

Usually Slank songs lead quickly to slamming -- the exciting wild-like reaction of the audience hopping on stage or performers getting on down.

But the Hard Rock crowd was not Slank's standard audience, it seemed, compared to the frenzied fans at M-Club in Blok M Plaza, for instance.

Tuesday's Hard Rock performance did prove however that Slank still had all its previous fans, if not many new ones.

The performance opened with Generasi Biru (Blue Generation), a song about the restlessness of Generation X, or what Slank calls Generasi Biru.

Hoodlum

This was followed with Musim Kemarau (Dry Season) and Funky before Slank introduced a song from of its latest album, Preman Urban (Urban Hoodlum).

Singer Kaka is proud of the last composition.

"(It) was written by only Bimbim and myself. Bimbim plays the bass and drums, and I'm the vocalist and also play guitar and harmonica."

Preman Urban was inspired by "a friend," Kaka says, who was a hoodlum. "Jerry," the man in the song, had tried to earn his living here in Jakarta after moving from his hometown in Maluku, but ended up spending 15 years of his life here in jail.

The capital turned out to be simply horrible for Jerry: "Jakarta penuh serigala, Jakarta penuh ular, Jakarta juga kota yang penuh curiga, Jakarta juga bukan kota yang ramah (Jakarta is full of wolves, Jakarta is full of snakes, Jakarta is also a suspicious city, and Jakarta is not a friendly city)," is an extract from the lyrics.

The song seems to warn people not to be lured to the capital to earn their living and might, unwittingly, help the authorities curb the flow unwanted migrants.

Here and there, in the middle of the performance, Kaka rushed into the audience with a basket, requesting donations for an orphanage in South Jakarta.

"This is part of our solidarity with those in crisis," said Kaka.

Thanks to the core of loyal fans, dubbed Slankers, the initially cool response changed in the middle of the performance as some of the audience started to sing along, or repeat words after the songs.

The next songs, Kosong-kosong (Zero-zero), Blues, Lagi Gampang (It's Easy) and Main Api (Playing with Fire) were mostly about love.

But, others, Anarki in RI (Anarchy in RI) and Birokrasi Komplek (Complicated Bureaucracy), showed Slankers are not politically ignorant brats.

Those two songs seemed to heat up the Slankers, but not the rest of the audience.

As if understanding some people's discomfort with the criticism in the words, Slank reverted to playing sweeter songs, such as Mawar Merah (Red Roses) and Balikin (Give it Back), before voicing more reproach in Tong Kosong (Empty Barrel).

Vocalist Kaka still has that unique voice of his, which is strong, high and at times ear-piercing but always original with his mischievous false notes.

For a group fresh from turmoil, Slank acquitted themselves well in their two-hour show at the cafe. They played 20 songs in all.

Unlike other bands, which have not survived that long in the cut-throat music industry, Slank is still around.

Its success story is unique as it is the obnoxious street-talk and rebellious attitude which brought it fame, fortune and, also internal conflicts.

It's story started in 1983 when Bimbim and Bongky formed Slank with three other buddies, who eventually disappeared in the band's numerous reshuffles.

Slank first mounted the stairway to stardom in 1988, when the founding duo picked up talented guitarist Pay and keyboard whizkid Indra.

A year later, Bimbim's 16-year-old cousin, Akhadi "Kaka" Satriaji, joined as lead singer and became the band's symbol of defiance.

The albums have sold like hot cakes but last year's conflict almost proved to be the final nail in Slank's coffin because they initially had difficulty finding replacements.

"But we have survived... and now we have this new album," said Bimbim, whose house is the perfect hangout for Slank and its followers due to his mom's willingness to alter parts of it into a music studio and office.

Whether they responded wildly or not, the members of the audience at the Hard Rock were glued to their seats for two hours.