Playback: Assembly Generals – Kontrabida

7/18/2015 9:01:05 PM

Screengrab from the official music video on YouTube

I first heard their name on SoundCloud and Amplify.PH. And upon looking for more details, I noticed two notable members: first, their drummer was already a modern-day legend in the local music scene, and another is a vocalist of those rocker girls called Flying Ipis.

I admit. At first I thought Raimund Marasigan (Sandwich, Squid9, Project 1, Eraserheads, etc.) was doing the lead voice for this band now popularly known as the Assembly Generals. And my same thought goes for Deng Garcia, only to realize I was wrong; as Paolo Toledo—or Switchtrik of Miscellaneous—does more of the talking; while Mon Punzalan mans MPC and Garcia (aside from being the co-vocalist) handles Ableton.

And for over a year, Assembly Generals released an album that’s worth the price. Sure, some may claim that 400 pesos for an eight-track record is a bit pricey. But there’s also guaranteed awesomeness for every single piece of hit they made right there either; aside from the fact that its design totally differed from the typical packaging of rich ink embed in a somewhat hard-bound paper cover.

Moreover, I’d like to deal with one of their songs titled “Kontrabida,” a 3:58-length track which deals about antagonizing without the aid of “dissing.” Yes, it sounded like a different approach, eh?

Judging from a title itself, people will be superficial enough to hate the word. After all, who likes to be the kontrabida anyway?

But doing the scrutinizing from the words itself is a different thing: if you ask me, the lines from the chorus calls me to stand at my own right—even if it sounds “against the flow” in the eyes of majority (yet stupid) society; while the bars do the extensive storytelling of this society, its politics and the entirety of this bullshit.

And like I said earlier, Kontrabida strayed away from one of the typical tracks in the genre where one brags his prowess over the other.

The auditory may be astonishingly good, but so was the music video itself. Director Kevin Vea has done a great job of doing the visual. The sudden 360 panning plus the severe ‘digital zooming’ of the clips were technically suitable enough to compliment the song. It even showed the complexity and convergence of storylines and angles, a perfect fit on the artist’s craft.

Switchtrik was so good in delivering his words, his gestures and even manning the camera. That’s what a real swagger should be about.

So, we may be at the halfway mark of this year; but I’ll tell you what—Assembly Generals was already a force to reckon with, but their video will make everyone a ‘heel mark’ in facing the present political shenanigans.

Salute!

Kontrabida is a track made by Assembly Generals off their self-titled debut album. Released by Locked Down Entertainment.

Author: slickmaster | ©2015 september twenty-eight productions