Over a decade ago, and likely fuelled by Beer Chang at the time, I remember seeing a Singaporean punk band appropriately called Opposition Party, completely shred a basement bar strangely located in the bowels of the Watana District Office on Thonglor, BKK. In those distant weird days it was like hearing the sounds and howls of urban Asian rage against the near-dystopian machine. That South-East Asia has such a thriving punk scene has been documented extensively and previously by authors such as Marco Ferrarese and Pablo Ramirez. Whether this is a continuing reaction to ongoing attempts to control peoples’ lives, or the manic underground stylings of cultures in revolt is up for debate. What is beyond doubt however, is that punk, across Asia, continues to throw up exhilarating, incandescent music; relentless sonic noise for the struggle against injustice and the futile attempts of faceless overlords to implement ever-stricter systems of suppression.
The latest documented artifact of such rebellion-fuelled creativity is Siam Underground Volume 1, a compilation of 14 punk-rock stalwarts from the local Bangkok band scene. There’s something here for everyone from the snarling guitar/bass combo of Cold Black Vines’ eponymous track, to the sludge-like power-throb of Depressed’s “King of Nothing”; from the frenzied thrash of Lowfat’s “Butsuyoku Paradise” to the manic dynamism of “Bad Horse” by God Hates. Other killer standout-tracks for me include:
Siam Underground Volume 1 is available on Bandcamp for download. Make a donation and contribute to financing a CD release of this awesome compilation. Volume 2 is already in the works!
- AW
The latest documented artifact of such rebellion-fuelled creativity is Siam Underground Volume 1, a compilation of 14 punk-rock stalwarts from the local Bangkok band scene. There’s something here for everyone from the snarling guitar/bass combo of Cold Black Vines’ eponymous track, to the sludge-like power-throb of Depressed’s “King of Nothing”; from the frenzied thrash of Lowfat’s “Butsuyoku Paradise” to the manic dynamism of “Bad Horse” by God Hates. Other killer standout-tracks for me include:
- Chaos of Society – “Murderer”
- Foolish The Bastards – “Police are Bastards”
- The Lunatix – “Mueng A Hia”
- Strive For Nothing – “Sand King”
- The Die Hards – “Civil War”
- The Greed – “I’ve Got No Feeling Yet”
Siam Underground Volume 1 is available on Bandcamp for download. Make a donation and contribute to financing a CD release of this awesome compilation. Volume 2 is already in the works!
- AW