Sore - Ports of Lima (Aksara)

Genius is not a word to be used lightly. But when it comes to Indonesian band Sore, it’s probably the word most often used to describe them. Those who have heard their beguiling debut Centralismo–named by TIME magazine as one of the five must-hear albums from Asia–would probably think, “How the hell could they top that?” Trust these five left-handed multi-instrumentalists to come up with something even more jaw-dropping than their already jaw-dropping debut.

While Centralismo confidently shows Sore’s technical prowess by leaning towards jazzy and lounge progressions, their follow-up showcases this and even more. Boldly exploring the more esoteric elements of pop and world music without forgetting the fundamentals of classic pop songcraft, and even delving a little bit into film scoring styles, the Sore we get from this album is like the bastard child of late 60s and 70s era Beach Boys, Van Dyke Parks, Os Mutantes and 70s era Ry Cooder mixed with a little bit of Ennio Morricone and Georges Delerue. The closest modern-day band I can compare them to is the Wondermints, and they’re still not that similar sounding.

Album opener ‘Bogor Biru’ starts things off pretty normally. But then the opening verses of ‘Senyum Dari Selatan’ hit you and you’re straight away reminded of the Beach Boys’ awesome but underrated album, Friends. Barely allowing you to catch your breath, they then take you to the most heart-wrenching tune on the album (and one of my favourites), ‘Merintih Perih’, a beautiful and unimaginable blend of Dewa-like balladry and Friends-era Beach Boys arrangement.

‘Essensimo’, one of four English tunes on the album, shows off Sore’s obsession with film soundtracks with the band playing the main melody for Jean Constantin’s score to the classic Francois Truffaut film The 400 Blows towards the end of the song. Another highlight is ‘Layu’, the most upbeat song on the album and a prime candidate as a radio hit, is probably the closest we’ll ever get to hearing a New Pornographers-like song sung in Indonesian. ‘Setengah Lima’ then follows with a chorus so gorgeous you’d feel like weeping. It’s criminal how melodic and catchy these songs are, yet complicated and complex. Genius!

4 stars

If you like this, also check out Wondermints, The Beach Boys, Os Mutantes.
www.myspace.com/soreband

Words Aidil