Kley: A talented batch of young artists

Somebody goofed big while putting together the first album by the rock band Kley, which is also titled Kley. I do not know who it was. It has to be either, whoever sequenced the songs in the studio or the one who did the cover art- work. Bulung-bulungan and Avenida are missing. I figured these might be interludes like Alarm Clock, but I failed to hear even one bit.

The other confusing booboo is the love song Hintayin. One version with the full band is supposed to be cut nine but what is in the CD is the piano-only version featur- ing Ronnie Dizon. The band version is instead in cut 13 although it really should have been the bo- nus track on cut 15, but which was again, instead occupied by Huli Na ‘to.

I do not usually gripe about these lapses be- cause anybody can make mistakes. But these errors are truly glaring in the case of Kley, because the songs are all new and you do not really know if either Bulung-bulungan or Tsismosa is playing or if Save Your Day or Huli Na ‘to is closing the CD. Besides, it is really most unfair to the band, which is making a very strong debut with the album. I have not heard playing and songwriting as solid as theirs from a new band for quite sometime.

I do not know what Kley means but the group is made up of an incredibly talented batch of young artists. These guys know rock but they also know music, its nuances and parameters and how the lyrics should fit the notes. Deejay Poblete is on vocals and is also the assistant recording engineer; songwriter Noah Zuñiga is on acoustic guitars. All of the cuts in Kley were composed by Noah, except for Kami Lang Ang Meron Niyan, which was co- written with Gloc-9 and Family, a collaboration of Noah, Deejay and Jay-R. Rey Corcelles plays lead guitar; Goeffrey Blones on bass; and the youngest of them all, Ralph Ruiz, is on drums.

Deejay of the sweet and powerful vocals, grew up in Los Angeles, and got her big break locally when she performed one of the entries in last year’s edition of the Philippine Pop Music Festival. The song finalist, Dulo Ng Dila, was written by Noah. She did it as a duet with Jay-R, who has since then signed Deejay and Noah, and the whole of Kley to his own music label, Homeworkz. It was also Jay-R who produced the band’s first album and who took the cover photos.

The R&B star proves himself a good, nicely confident album producer and (surprise!) Jay-R is a rocker, too. Save for those booboos I mentioned earlier, the songs of Kley are so well-put together and only a producer who knows his music can do that. He is off to a very promising start in this new phase of his career. Of course, I must also say that Jay-R is so fortunate to have a band with huge potentials like Kley on his label. Truth to tell, listening to Kley makes me long for the old days when fans listened intently to Pinoy rock, bought the albums and made sure they attended the concerts. Kley deserves that kind of attention.

My top choices in the CD are the big rocker Tayo, the ballad Hintayin and the bluesy Kumot. Also in- cluded are Tsismosa, Injanan, Maayos Din Ang Lahat, Kami Lang Ang Meron Nyan featuring Gloc 9, Move On Boy, Family a duet with Jay-R, Save Your Day and Huli Na ‘to. Don’t mind the goofs. This one is a keeper.

More on local pop tunes. Here is last week’s Pi- noy MYX countdown of the top, the most viewed, most requested and most voted videos of the mo- ment. The video of the single Tsismosa by Kley is at No. 19.

Chinito by Yeng Constantino; Carousel by Bamboo; Ikaw At Ako by TJ Monterde; Lipat Bahay by Rico Blanco; Haplos by Alden Richards; Right Next To Me by Kimpoy Feliciano; Pick Your Poison by Sponge Cola; Balewalang Pag-ibig by Join The Club; Sama-sama by Rocksteddy; Hello I Love You by Chicsers.

Karakaraka by Vice Ganda feat. Smugglaz; Sa Isang Sulyap Mo by Bryan Termulo; Wow by Roxee B feat. Q-York; Papansin by K.A. Antonio; Pangarap by Dingdong Avanzado; Wala Na Bang Pag-ibig by Liezel Garcia; Truly by Richard Poon; Salamin by Kilos; Tsismosa by Kley; and By Your Side by the Aspen Way.