REVIEW: Con-Damn the Corruptor | My Songs for You by Shahrizal Jasmi

BAND: Con-Damn the Corruptor (Malaysia)
RELEASE: My Songs for You
LABEL:
Akar Press https://www.facebook.com/akarpress?pnref=story
REVIEWER: Shahrizal Jasmi
FIND MORE INFO HERE:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/ConDamnTheCorruptor

My Songs for You is the second album by these Sabahan punks (for those who don’t know, Sabah is one of the two Malaysian states on Borneo Island). I think it’s pretty safe to say that CON-DAMN THE CORRUPTED is the Malaysian version of MARJINAL (Indonesia) or at least they are heavily influenced by MARJINAL – even the vocals sound almost the same. This album is good for a few spins once in awhile but it gets old pretty fast. I think I prefer their first album better. However I really appreciate the fact that they used traditional instruments such as Djimbe, Kulintangan, Seruling (flute) and Gendang (a traditional drum) in the Intro and an instrumental interlude called Sound of Whisper. This new CD contains 11 songs of catchy, punk rock anthems about political stuff with funny snippets from P. Ramlee movies in between, including a cover originally by Indonesian punk band DESA LUKANEGARA. There’s also a song about DOWRY (yes, you heard me) – which they call “Song for Future Parents in Law“. The acoustic song about dowry sounds like a Dangdut (an Indonesian folk and traditional popular music that is partly derived from Hindustani, Malay and Arabic music according to Wikipedia) number to my ears.

The CD comes in a 7 inch vinyl sized cover/packaging with killer artwork and a folded poster of the cover art. I love the metallic red spot finish on the cover. The song titles are in English but they were sung in Bahasa Melayu – well, at least you non-Malay speaking punks get the idea what the songs are about.

Definitely for fans of MARJINAL, BUNGA HITAM, SOSIAL SOSIAL and the likes.

Shahrizal Jasmi currently plays in The Mindless Show
https://themindlessshow.bandcamp.com/