Record of the Week - Reaksie: Esok Hari Kepunyaan Kita EP

Reaksi:  Esok Hari Kepunyaan Kita EP 7” (La Vida Es Un Mus) La Vida Es Un Mus brings us the debut EP from this new band featuring Yeap from Pisschrist on guitar and vocals. Before I give you my take, I want to direct your attention to Fahmi Reza’s words on the EP. I didn’t read what Fahmi wrote until after I’d listened to  Esok Hari Kepunyaan Kita EP quite a bit, and I’m ashamed to say that most of what Fahmi said about the band and their lyrics went over this monolingual white American punk’s head. But that’s why we’re into this shit, right? The reason we search out records and bands from all over the globe is because we’re interested in those people’s perspectives… we want to understand better what the world looks like through their eyes. I was pretty fucking stoked on this record before I knew what the words meant. (To tell the whole truth, I wasn’t even sure what language they were in. They’re in Bahasa, an Indonesian language that Google Translate seems to have no trouble with. “Reaksi” means “reaction” and “Esok Hari Kepunyaan Kita” translates as “Tomorrow Is Ours.”) Reaksi cops a lot of moves from the No Future catalog (particularly the Partisans and Blitz), but they do it well, with the same anthemic sensibility of Rixe but with a tougher edge… I’d bet money these folks really appreciate the Ultra Violent EP. I also like the track “Awas” (“Watch Out”), which has a Ramones-y feel. Anyway, come for the music and the bad-ass alligator on the cover, stay for the education…