General Luna: Yes, they can!

The number and variety of new choices seem to have sent the Pinoy band lover into a retro mood. Top favorites nowadays are Kamikazee, Hale and Sugarfree, all far from being called new. Would you believe even Cueshé from many years ago is back? I see this as the audience backlash to finding so many new acts available. Anybody can now make a CD and release it online or sell it during gigs.

The problem with this situation is with no competent A&R or marketing people checking the products and supervising marketing, there are very few among the new bands that can make the grade. I know there must be one or two among the new ones that can. It can’t be that bad! But these tend to get lost when lumped in with mediocre ones.

So what is a new band to do to stand out among the competition? There must be ways and ways. But in the case of General Luna, it is in having five pretty girls in the band. How pretty? Think Pussycat Dolls but without the sexy dance moves. Better yet, think of Sampaguita from the late ‘70s, a beautiful Pinay who can dish out Pinoy rock tunes. And all of the girls of General Luna can.

Contrary to initial impression, General Luna is not named after the hero of the revolution against Spain. General came about because the girls felt their music needed a masculine vibe. As for Luna, the word means moon which conveys something feminine. So General Luna it is, which is just as well because the band’s music is rock that borders on the hard kind.

I guess girl power also means getting some of those boys writing and producing for General Luna’s debut album. The guys who gladly pitched in are Typecast frontman Steve Badiola who wrote the nightmare theme for the first single Red Heaven; Mayonnaise vocalist and guitarist Monty Macalino for Nandito, which deals with parent and child relationships; Ebe Dancel of Sugarfree for the inspiring Maria; Typecast guitarist Pakoy Fletchero as producer of Walang Bintana; Rivermaya bassist Japs Sergio as co-producer of Dala ng Ulan and Pagmulat. Then there are also musician and NU107 DJ Francis Brew Reyes and award-winning engineer Angee Rozul helping out in the production.

The self-titled album is out and shows a lot of promise. I like Tila, a composition by Lambert Reyes Jr., with an irresistible beat. Lolita Carbon’s classic Usok holds up very well to the rockier remake. One cannot help but get into a feminist mood with Maria. And Monty still has his hitmaking chops going great with the second single Nandito. The only bummer here is that the girls chose not to put the lyrics of the songs in the sleeve. That is a no-no for a mostly new originals, all-OPM album by a new artist. Save for that though, General Luna is one of the year’s better releases in the band front. The other songs included Hinga, Pavement, Wala Ng Mas Sasakit Pa and Blind Man.

General Luna is made up of Alex Montemayor on bass and back-up vocals; Audry Dionisio on rhythm guitars and back-up vocals; Bea Lao on drums and back-up vocals; Caren Mangaran on lead guitars, acoustic guitars and back-up vocals; and Nicole Asensio on lead vocals and keyboards. She is also the songwriter in the band and has some compositions in the album.

 Meanwhile, from out of local TV comes the Pinoy MYX Countdown of the Top 20 videos of the week: Disney by Tanya Markova; Magkaibang Mundo by Hale; Alay by Kamikazee; I Remember The Girl by Christian Bautista; Bata by BBS/Kean/Madeline; Back To Love by Quest; Afraid For Love To Fade by Christian B. again; Opposites Attract by Juris; Kung Wala Na Nga by 6cyclemind, Kean Cipriano and Yeng Constantino; I Love You Girl by XLR8.

Hangover by Sugarfree; Suplado Ka Pala Sa Personal by Itchyworms; Meron Ba by Kjwan; Pangako by Cueshé; Baliw by Kiss Jane; As You Inhale by Blue Boy Bites Back; In Your Eyes by Rachelle Ann Go; Can’t Help Myself by Toni Gonzaga; Takipsilim by KC Concepcion; and Liwanag by Julianne Tarroja.