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AlbumREVIEW : '€˜Axis Mundi'€™ by Polka Wars

Polka Wars have released a debut record called Axis Mundi — with the box set now sold out, the digital and CD formats are due to come out in July and August, respectively

Stanley Widianto (The Jakarta Post)
Fri, July 3, 2015

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AlbumREVIEW : '€˜Axis Mundi'€™ by Polka Wars

Polka Wars have released a debut record called Axis Mundi '€” with the box set now sold out, the digital and CD formats are due to come out in July and August, respectively.

The question is: is the album an amateur'€™s work because it'€™s coming from someone new?

Should that be our knee-jerk thought? No, and the reason is that Axis Mundi is a confident, conceptual rock album that sounds light years removed from the rookie mistakes commonly assigned to bands trying to step into the game with every intention of staying.

Polka Wars, an indie rock band hailing from Jakarta, have been described by many music publications as an '€œindie rock'€ outfit.

That genre, according to Axis Mundi, is a fluid term: there'€™s the energetic garage on opener '€œMokéle'€, the gothic and theatrical blues on '€œAlfonso'€, folk on '€œLovers'€ and post-rock on '€œPiano Song'€.

So to call Axis Mundi an indie rock album the way you'€™d call Metallica a metal band would not be 100 percent accurate.

Musically, Polka Wars avoid clear structures (the songs could shift gear suddenly, like in the outro of '€œMokéle'€), but somehow still manage to make the album cohesive.

Take '€œHorse'€™s Hooves'€ as an example, where an ambient intro segues into a gorgeous, minimalist ballad. Or '€œTop Gear (Moths & Flies)'€, where the guitar interplays courtesy of resident guitarist Billy Saleh and guest guitarist Sigit Pramudita of folk band Tigapagi result in some pretty great groove.

On the subject of deviation from the traditional format of indie rock, Polka Wars doesn'€™t have a main vocalist. In theory, yes they do, and it'€™s Karaeng Adjie. But on '€œAlfonso'€ and '€œLovers'€, drummer Giovanni Rahmadeva steals the mic, whereas Herald Reynaldo from L'€™alphalpha sings backup on '€œThis Providence'€.

And much like Polka Wars'€™ senior compatriots SORE, this egalitarian approach suits the band; after all, if there'€™s anything Axis Mundi is not, it'€™s repetitive.

Another point of success on Axis Mundi is the balance achieved by blurring the line between loud and quiet. Listen closely, and you'€™ll hear that '€œMokéle'€ and '€œTall Stories'€ are similar sonically (loud), and so are '€œLovers'€ and '€œAlfonso'€ (quiet).

But most importantly, the definition of '€œaxis mundi'€ '€” the centre between earth and whoever'€™s definition of heaven '€” has a lot to

do with balance.

Which is to say that, yeah, they didn'€™t just rip a page from a Latin philosophy book to come up with a funky album title; they actually let the phrase guide the album. Is this bold? You betcha.

Axis Mundi is by no means perfect ('€œThis Providence'€ is a bit of a clunker, at least comparatively, while '€œTall Stories'€ could use a minute longer).

Nonetheless, the album still sounds accomplished because Polka Wars'€™ ambition is matched by their willingness (not to mention boldness) to achieve it.

Sure, they'€™re the new kids on the block, but everyone'€™s got to start somewhere, right? And if musicians start out with a record like this one, then '€œwhat'€™s next'€ shouldn'€™t really be a problem.

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