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‘New low’: Fans, critics slam Slank’s cop-praising single
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he National Police Day commemoration on July 1 was celebrated by many, but it was also an opportunity for others to criticize the force on social media by posting cases of police brutality and bad experiences they had experienced with the law enforcers.
But a couple of weeks later a much louder fanfare hit the online sphere as users from all quarters were taken aback by the lyrics of a new single from rock band Slank titled “Polisi Yang Baik Hati” (Kind-hearted Police), which was released on Jul. 14 on streaming services.
“Kind-hearted police officers, with warm smiles, true defenders of the people,” one line goes in Indonesian.
The song, the band’s gift to the National Police, went viral and quickly summoned a wave of criticism with many fans accusing Slank, formerly known for lyrics criticizing the government, of fully showing its face as the government’s mouthpiece.
“Why has the band become such a hot mess? After the [2005] Slankissme album, I already had very few expectations. But this was truly a new low,” Twitter user Axl Valdano commented under the band’s post on the single’s announcement.
“My dad and I have been fans since the start, and it’s such an embarrassment to see them make songs like these,” he wrote.
Side swap
With all the rage erupting against the band, it is worth remembering that it was Slank that initially raged against the establishment. Throughout its early years in the 1990s, Slank gained prominence as a rock and roll band that related to Indonesian youth, as well as being a strong socio-political critic, churning out numerous grassroots anthems.
Albums like Generasi Biru in 1994, Minoritas in 1996, all the way to Mata Hati Reformasi in 1998, were chock-full of songs taking a jab at the higher-ups or even calling them out directly to come on to the streets and see the people for themselves, like in the song “Hey Bung!” in 1994.
But as the years went by, fans criticized the band for becoming softer and eventually turning into the antithesis of what it had so vocally proclaimed in the early days.
Around the 2014 presidential election, the band members got chummy with the police, endorsed the military and supported then-candidate Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. They also wrote a song in support of President Jokowi’s second term.
“My political stance in 1997 and 2021 cannot be compared,” the band’s drummer and leader, Bimbim, said in 2021 in response to fan criticism, as quoted by music publication Hai.
“I want to change and keep exploring new things. There are different enemies and conditions now,” he added, noting that the recent Slank songs still came from a place of concern for and toward the people.
Tone deaf?
But many listeners have grown cold toward the band’s recent output, apparent in the backlash against the new single.
“‘Polisi Yang Baik Hati’ certainly taints all the political tracks in the band’s back catalog,” music critic and writer Adib Arkan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
“When you write about politics, you have to live up to your own words. Political views can change, sure. But this low? They are clearly tone deaf toward the people’s complaints against the police [which they can discover with] one click on Google,” he said.
Arrangement-wise, Adib also thought the single was gratingly subpar compared with other Slank songs. The song consists of the band’s typical rock tunes, with added marching band horns.
“It’s the same formulaic rock that has never evolved since the 2000s, not to mention the birthday-song melodies that make the song even more of a caricature,” he said.
Regardless, a huge pool of listeners are unlikely to drop the band and its music anytime soon.
Slank still has some of the biggest and most famously devoted fans, called Slankers, with around 7 million members in the online database according to the band’s bassist Ivanka last year.
“Slank is a living legend. It can show up and endure because the music is still relatable and relevant to the audience,” Jakarta-based publicist Danu Kuntoaji, 48, said to the Post on Thursday.
While not a self-proclaimed Slanker, Danu admitted that he still liked the band’s music and listened to it constantly, even the recent output.
“The new song sounds sweet and praising, but I’m pretty sure there’s an irony-tinged meaning in the lyrics, sort of like a scolding,” he said.
