Now I’m not sure whether Scaller, a Jakarta alternative rock band that surprise-released its first LP Senses early this year after its mini-album 1991 could claim a sturdy spot here.

But the crowd at its first solo concert, held recently at the Soehanna Hall with the title Spirit of the Thing, euphorically danced, clapped, cheered for more, just like they did with their predecessors.

Bands like Scaller (Barasuara, Polka Wars, Tigapagi, too) are making the most of the present tense — making the wait for new signs of activities less tiresome, more anticipated.

Read also: The flaming spirit of Barasuara

The proceedings got off to a good start with Anomalyst, an indie rock band that is currently working on its first LP. Listening to Anomalyst will probably remind you of the band Interpol, because of the constant dips and turns one traditional indie rock song can take.

Even so, the concert didn’t move me as much as I had expected. Stella Gareth (keyboard/piano/vocals) and Reney Karamoy (guitar/vocals) were confident (“You have no idea how nervous I am,” Karamoy said at one point. Could’ve fooled me) and electric at the show that bore their name, but the first half of it was sculpted, jumbled.

They were searching for a sound to stick to and their performance (mostly consisting of songs from the band’s fine debut record) suffered because of it. Still, it was great to see people in the crowd enjoying themselves.

Then the second half (starting from the great piano-and-guitar showing “Lotis Dream”) benefitted from a much-needed refocus. Haunting, anthemic and energetic, Scaller performed with a swagger that some bands took years to convincingly pull off.

Most importantly, Scaller’s strength lies in the attention and work put into the instrumentation: Reney’s guitar wails and dances, as Stella jumps up and down, her whispers turning into bellows. The songs “Upheaval” and “Dawn Is Coming,” hookless as they are, become some really legitimate alt. rock monsters on stage.

Speaking of hookless, I don’t think I heard more than a couple of hooks in a given Scaller song at the show. Listening to Senses wouldn’t convince me otherwise either.

Scaller is not an acquired taste — the band has a way of working the crowd, as the show attested — but its songs aren’t pretty either: synths gurgle eerily in a winded intro and the guitar doesn’t bend for a comfortable position.

Reney and Stella’s vocals unfortunately didn’t always hold, but it was nice to see them shift to screams and shouts (especially in the encore “Live and Do” and “Stay on the Track”).

Read also: Album Review: The Backstage Session by Bangkutaman

The best part of the show worth mentioning is the guy behind the drums: Enrico Octaviano. He gave Scaller a singular, distinct sound — ominous, anthemic percussive sound — at the show and made it stick. The last song before the encore “The Youth” exemplified that sound perfectly.

I saw a lot of familiar faces at the show — senior music journalists, band managers, fellow musicians, long-time fans. Ask any of them on a given day not long after Spirit of the Thing and they’ll speak of this concert that they just went to.

The most common adjective that was attached to Scaller was the one that gave one of the band’s songs its name: Youth. Now in their 20s, Reney and Stella still have a long way to go to remain with their good music on the scene, but, as Spirit of the Thing showed, it’s happy to have them there.

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia