Fables of Dark Cities

Hehe... since we're talking about Pinoy pulp, why not Pinoy pulp...music?

Admittedly that I'm not one for checking out the local band scene, one of the best hard-rocking bands I've ever discovered (thanks to [identity-protected]) is Los Chupacabras with frontman Easy Fagela, Carljoe Javier and Mikael Co on guitars, and Joel Toledo on drums. One thing about this band is that-- aside from having some of the best (and funny) hard rock songs I've heard-- they're all young and well-regarded writers in the local literary scene with a number of awards under their belt. Easy, Kael and Joel (better known as ramblingsoul here) are poets while Carljoe is a fictionist/CNF.

The great thing about Los Chupacabras' songs is that they evoke a certain noir imagery for me: of the dark, squalid city streets, of thugs hanging at street corners, and of the '70s and '80s childhood fears of old-time crime-ridden Cubao and even older Manila. This noir-ish flavor to their act actually has gotten me to try to write a spec fic short story about their songs. (Which I promise to finish one of these days-- around the same time they come out with their first album! Grr!)

(And this is why I once texted the slammin' writer/artist dodo to ask if he had ever heard this band because their songs so reminded me of his Askals komiks, which is as cool a noir, dark fantasy comic book about our beloved trash-ridden city ever is. And which reminds me I should pick up his next issues. But I digress from all this talking in parentheses...)

Still, rather than let me babble on, check this music video of Patay na babae sa bubong ng bahay ("A dead woman on top of the house") directed by Khavn dela Cruz:




And if ever you get a chance to hear this band or read the komiks, do so. It will definitely give you an idea of what a glorious and dangerous place our city really is.