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‘Call of the times’: Buklod reunites, releases new album

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Tarra Quismundo , ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/entertainment/11/19/20181119-buklod.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>Protest band Buklod has reunited to release a new album. Tarra Quismundo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — It was hard to get a seat. Through Saturday’s crazy traffic, patrons had to come early, else pass the night — indeed historic in the local music scene — standing. More than an hour before the show, Conspiracy Garden Cafe, Quezon City’s haven for folk and alternative music, was packed, seats spilling into walkways, tables abuzz with chatter and chow, beer buckets already halfway done. And the audience, among whom had waited decades for such a night, did not mind the stuffy November air. For that night, Buklod, one of OPM’s most memorable trios, was taking the stage together with a new album. It had been 30 years since their debut, and several since they parted. Buklod — Noel Cabangon, Romeo Dongeto and Rene Boncocan — launched a new album Saturday night, offering a repertoire that may well serve as the soundtrack of the current state of affairs. It was, in fact, the political climate that had brought the three back together again after years of separate pursuits. “It was the call of the times,” Cabangon, the most visible in the music scene, told the audience of friends, family, old and new fans as the band kicked off its first set Saturday night. Buklod’s new album “Tatlong Dekada: Buklod, Ang Muling Pag-Awit” remains true to what the activist band was known for: gritty lyrics laid on folksy sound, moving listeners in both body and thought to action. <div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/entertainment/11/19/20181119-buklod-album.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>An autographed copy of Buklod’s new album “Tatlong Dekada: Buklod, Ang Muling Pag-Awit,” launched Saturday night.</figcaption></figure></div>The 10-track record is a missive wrapped in nostalgia: a call to act against the repeat of oppression that had moved the musicians to create protest music in the &#x27;80s.The album art bears a seeming blood smear and a collage of headlines and protest photos. The band’s message in the back cover says it all: “Our songs and struggle continue.”“We thought that the current political situation is challenging us that ‘say something and give our opinion’,” Cabangon said later in a text message. He noted that the band was “a protest music group in the &#x27;80s and &#x27;90s that is known for songs that provoke and inspire people to get involved and do something about important issues such as human rights and sovereignty.”And their new album seeks to do just that. “Tatlong Dekada” has three new original songs from each of the band members, plus a fresh version of the Buklod anthem “Tatsulok.”The record opens gently with “Malaya,” a mid-tempo ode to a nation’s journey to freedom. The next two tracks pay tribute to the band’s story. “Kung Saan-Saan” and “Tatlong Dekada” talk about Buklod’s journey as a band, from first coming together, going their separate ways, and then having their paths cross again. “Kahapon Lang” is perhaps the most sentimental among the songs, its lyrics and melody, laid in piano and guitar, reminiscent of the band’s classic love song “Kanlungan,” which they performed to loud cheers during the launch.By the fifth track, the band takes the listener to the streets.“Kung Di Ka Kikilos” opens with a call to action sung in that familiar Buklod-style harmony: “Kung ‘di ka kikilos, sino ang kikilos? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa, kailan pa?”The verses mince no words, with sharp commentary against lack of justice in alleged extrajudicial killings in government’s drug war.Consider the first stanza:“Malansa’t amoy pulbura ang mga lansangan Naka-tape at balot ng plastic ang mga iniwang katawan Di ka ba nababahala sa gulo sa ating paligid Hahayaan na lang ba at mananahimik?”“Pagbabagong Nagbabago” is a dig at the administration’s tagline about change, tackling train breakdowns, inflation, the drug war, low wages, contractualization, and the administration’s push for a shift to federalism. The track hits the administration’s policy towards China: “Tumambay dun sa kanto, nasilip ko sa dyaryo Ang ating teritoryo ibinigay na sa Tsino Ang sabi ng palasyo utang ng loob ito ‘Wag daw tayong magreklamo para sa ating pag-asenso”The chorus then asks: “Anong klaseng pagbabago? Ito ba ang gusto mo?”The seventh track, “Tumangis ang Buwan,” is a cry for justice for Kian delos Santos, the Caloocan City teen whose slay in a questionable police raid in August 2017 had brought controversy to the administration’s war on drugs. The song spoke about that night when Delos Santos was, to rephrase the lyrics, robbed of his future:“Inagaw ka, paulit-ulit na sinaktan Nagmamakaawa Paulit-ulit kang pinaslang”The slow reggae track “Isang Laban, Isang Bayan” seeks to rouse people from seeming slumber and urges them to unite. “Sumabay, sumigaw ng kalayaan Gisingin ang nahihimbing na bayan Tumindig, isulong ang katotohonan Katarunga’y ating ipaglaban Magkaisa at manindigan Isang laban, isang bayan”Track 9 is the band’s refreshed version of “Tatsulok,” a stinging anthem against inequality and oppression. Buklod wraps up the record on a positive note with “Bagong Umaga,” which talks about “the end of darkness” and the healing of wounds and divisions. The song looks forward to a new beginning: “Ang bagong araw ay narito na Ngayon na ang bagong simula Ang bagong umaga’y narito na Ang nasa una, ngayon nama’y mahuhuli”Cabangon said the band plans to take the album on tour. Buklod is slated to have a concert on December 10 at the Commission on Human Rights compound.

Buklod’s new album “Tatlong Dekada: Buklod, Ang Muling Pag-Awit” remains true to what the activist band was known for: gritty lyrics laid on folksy sound, moving listeners in both body and thought to action.

Buklod’s new album “Tatlong Dekada: Buklod, Ang Muling Pag-Awit” remains true to what the activist band was known for: gritty lyrics laid on folksy sound, moving listeners in both body and thought to action.

‘Call of the times’: Buklod reunites, releases new album

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‘Call of the times’: Buklod reunites, releases new album

Tarra Quismundo ,

ABS-CBN News

Published November 19, 2018 07:47 PM PHT

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Updated November 21, 2018 12:40 PM PHT

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