Monday May 22, 2006
Top of the crop
Loveable power pop heroes Couple come of age with their first studio album, writes ABIGAIL DE VRIES.
THE current indie rock revival/craze going on in the local music circuit notwithstanding, a band with a decidedly more tuneful approach stands poised for a popular breakout. Couple, a pioneering power pop combo released its debut album, Top of the Pop last month, featuring a collection of hummable, sinfully addictive songs.
But the word “debut” may be a little misleading. The band dates back to almost a decade now and have previously released four albums, all recorded on cheap home recording equipment and packaged as CD-Rs sold at live gigs. Referencing the classic pop sounds of The Beach Boys, the Beatles, through to American power pop icons like Big Star and The Posies, the Ipoh-born frontman Aidil Rusli formed Couple with a friend in 1995 and began demo-ing songs together.
What the lo-fi output lacked in sophisticated polish, it paid off in loads of homespun charm and loveable pop.
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Indie pop outfit Couple, with frontman Aidil (second left) aiming to embrace the mainstream. |
“I love lo-fi, and always will. But there’s also that special feeling you get when you listen to a ‘proper’-sounding CD of your work, knowing full well that it’s gonna travel, and the only reason it hasn’t travelled far so far is because of the ‘hissy’ lo-fi recordings previously ... With the current musical climate I don’t think even Guided By Voices would stand any chance if they released Bee Thousand now. It’s all about timing,” he added.
Indeed, it does seem that all the pieces are falling into place for the Klang Valley-based band. After a series of line-up changes, a new squad emerged last year. Now with Aidil (guitars/vocals), Hana (guitars), Ojoe (bass) and Ihsan (drums), Couple can boast a raucous rock ’n’ roll edge, boosting its already formidable melodic instincts.
The band’s meatier sound is audible from the start with the album opener and first single Now That I Can See and throughout the 11-song album. Recorded last September at Standingwave Productions in KL, the album also dusts off some old favourites from their early albums like Turning Melancholy to Magic.
The Internet came of age at the right time too with the emergence of social networking website Myspace.com, a valuable tool for aspiring musicians worldwide. New indie sensations The Artic Monkeys rode the Myspace wave to the top of the British charts, and musicians like Aidil aren’t blind to its value.
“It is, to put it simply, a 24-hour online demo CD available for any music executive anywhere in the world to sample at any hour of the day. You don’t need to bankrupt yourself sending demo CDs or tapes to the far corners of the earth, only to have them left unopened for all eternity by the people you sent it to.
“So there’s really no excuse now for people not getting off their behinds and getting in touch with other people, local or overseas. The only question left is whether you have the goods to attract people or not. If you have the goods, it can easily spread,” explained Aidil.
Through Myspace, Aidil has not only reached new fans and made contact with some of his favourites bands like The Muffs and The Tyde, but also snagged a record deal with a fledgling New York label Sizzleteen Records and is also negotiating distribution deals in Britain and Indonesia. (Downloads of the album will also be available soon on itunes.)
The band has also been booked for several live shows this summer in Los Angeles. Couple looks set to blaze trails in the United States, if not for the tricky issue of finances. But Aidil is characteristically optimistic: “I’m hoping we can score a corporate sponsor or two, as we’re actually not asking for much ... But we have to go there, by hook or by crook. Our slots at the festivals are all already confirmed.”
With these significant new strides, perhaps Couple can finally brush off the disdain that dogged the band early in its career. Any band bent on the unfashionable sounds and forms of classic pop in a scene cluttered with bands of noisier, more aggressive leanings, can expect some casual dismissal from its peers.
“I just can’t understand snobbish hipsters, that’s all. Those who keep on talking about something ‘new’ in music are seriously kidding themselves. Nothing’s new anymore! Everything’s been done before, and everything’s recycled. If it’s totally ‘new’, chances are it’s not even ‘music’ anymore, maybe just ‘noise’, or whatever else you might want to call it. So enough already of trying to be ‘innovative’.
“I know that I’m no ‘innovative’ musical genius, and have therefore learnt to make peace with my place in the world by writing dumb and simple pop songs instead! So for me, a super-concise song, tightly-arranged, with an unforgettable melody is the ultimate prize,” said Aidil. By the sound of it, that prize has already been won.
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