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Jakarta Post

Toilet Sounds re-releases first album

Toilet Sounds is one of the biggest unknown bands in Indonesia.

Marcel Thee (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, May 26, 2017

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Toilet Sounds re-releases first album Still going: Grunge band Toilet Sounds still going strong after 20 years. (JP/Marcel Thee)

Y

ou may never have heard of it, but come to one of the band’s gigs and you’re bound to see a massive and dedicated fanbase.

Still-surviving as one of the first underground bands in Jakarta (most of the others are long gone), this questionably named early-90s grunge band continues to entertain the disenfranchised in underground gigs around the country on a regular basis.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the band’s whole catalogue since its formation in 1992 has only delivered two full length records.

The first, Minim (Minimal), was released in 1998, while the second, Lepas Dari Tubuh (Leaping Out of the Body), was released in 2004.

Still, the unfiltered and often juvenile sense of frustration of its songs is why Toilet Sounds continues to be so identifiable, especially to those who feel marginally oppressed.

This is also why the first album remains a fan favorite while its second, more-adult-themed record has become largely forgotten — a shame since it was a strong leap forward for the band, and in particular the band leader, singer-guitarist Petrus Saiya.

This is also why the band has decided to re-release its first record.

Minim is chock full of very-literal song titles that pretty much explain its whole focus.

Witness “Jelas [Nol]”, which translates into informal spelling for “Not Clear [Null]” and rails out through its repeated verse of “Only words/ only promises/ Promised hope/ Told to wait” and its screamed title as its chorus.

The sentiment can pretty much be directed toward anyone and anything: the government, parents, authorities, or a girl you have a crush on.

Inexplicably released on a generic slipcase with very grungy but very undetermined design, the re-release re-titles the album as Waktu, which is also the title of one of the record’s best and arguably most-mature tracks.

“It’s an easy listening record that we felt would be a good introduction to the band for younger fans,” says Petrus, who adds that the album was named to celebrate the band’s passage of time.

Waktu oddly re-sequences the album, taking away the sense of dynamics. Its placing of the rockier tracks upfront lends a sense of same-ness to the album’s first few minutes. But it makes sense as a modern “sampler”, as younger fans who buy this will delight in the instant barrage of wailing and tortured angst.

At its best, the original trio of Petrus, drummer Aldi and bassist Yunus (both of whom have since left the band) conjures up the primal ferocity of legendary grunge trio Nirvana, who they are happy to admit, still remains the band’s main source of inspiration.

Petrus’ screams are a little more-highly pitched than Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, but there is a similar unfiltered anguish that always feels genuine. Meanwhile, the rhythm section takes the intensity of Nirvana and pretty much works with that minimalist template.

“It was a time filled with joy and hardship,” recalls Petrus of the recording process for Minim.

“We were proud that we could record the record with the money we saved up from playing shows. And we were proud when MTV Asian crowned us one of its most promising bands”.

Tracks like “Kalian” (the plural you) with its repeated refrain of bangsat (scoundrels) are simplistic wrath wrapped around a simple grunge riff that is part middle-eastern, part American northwest.

While “Tolong” (Help), the band’s early and only hit, lurches from a dreamy verse into a screamy chorus.

Lagi Pusing” (Having a Headache) is a soundtrack for adolescent moodiness guaranteed to get a crowd of teens going.

The album’s less-infantile moments come in the form of the slow-building title track and the post-grunge balladry of “Bulan” (Moon). These moments act as a nice balance against the record’s more abrasive songs.

The album doesn’t seem to have undergone any sonic changes in any kind of re-mastering process, so there really isn’t much audible value to it.

Still Minim was never released on CD, so this is a nice way of getting things in a slightly more-current format.

It’s also a good way to support one of the country’s longest-lasting underground bands — one that many consider to be “Indonesia’s Nirvana”.

With a third album on the way, Petrus and his friends continue to celebrate youthful frustration well into their 40s.

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