Sounds From The Corner : Session #20 Polka Wars

Polka Wars boys are bad at public speaking, and have their white shirts tucked in, but their craft is the most important thing that you should judge.

I think this session is perfect to close the year, as we’ve uploaded numerous performances, but these boys are definitely among the ones with the strongest personality. Not only piracy and reluctance towards originality, the digital culture forces Indonesian musicians to become lazy. When access, reference and technology are readily juxtaposed, the next battle in modern music is about character and consistency. On the conceptual level, Polka Wars are winning on this front, they have developed a superior tone of music, possibly rookie with most reliable original sound in Indonesia the past three years.

The simplest supporting fact that I’ve spotted from their LP Axis Mundi is an eminent factor of distinction throughout the songs, but cloaked with one significant relevance, both audibly and narratively. Going on the surface with absence of character is foolish while pursuing acknowledgement with being copycat is even worse. In music, it’s always the mixture of both works best, when you study hard enough to enliven your own ideas while tapping into wider influences. Axis Mundi is a good example of that balance.

Even before diving deep into the songwriting, you could picture the big notion of the album, delivered with a touch of personality. This is a band that write music solidly as a set of arrangements, not a bunch of disjointed parts that “might sound like a song”. The consequences of achieving that goal is of course lack of individual presence, but seeing their session is enough proof that they have nothing to worry about.

Even though it's so tempting, I refused to react towards my ignorance and state that Karaeng Adjie’s vocal is basically Paul Banks’ but watching this session, I’m pretty confident to say that Deva’s voice in “Lovers” sounds like Wild Beast’s Hayden Thorpe, in a rare good way. The vocal section in Polka’s rigid arrangements is the black horse of the whole experience: mature, minimalist but vast and smartly put as a necessary condiment of Polka Wars unit. They often use vocal not only as a medium to surface the lyrics, but also to distribute uncovered melody. Furthermore, when you’re hooked on the music, listening to the strange, secretive lyrics put you into a whole new context.

From the mystifying Horse Hoove to the speeding Top Gear, Polka Wars pitch of nuance is mildly foggy, majestic and raw. There’s this persistent effect of darkness that is prospered beautifully, shyly overruling logic and sensibility.

Just after we finished recording, we made them sat together to answer questions and discuss things. While they are best buddies for years, lots of the reaction towards things that we discussed were raised via intense arguments, which signaled a healthy status of diversity in terms of perceiving problems and experimenting solutions. Opinions within band members is the real double headed sword, but it is far better than nodding only to one side and ended up being boring and predictable.

With Axis Mundi, Polka Wars boys stampede to the crux of the league, and this is just the start. Ladies and Gentlemen, Sounds From the Corner presents: Polka Wars! Happy New Year! See you in 2016 - Teguh Wicaksono

Horse Hooves 0:18
Coraline 4:53
Mokele 9:04
Tall Storeis 15:37
Lovers 20:44
Moths & Flies (Top Gear) 24:27

Видео Sounds From The Corner : Session #20 Polka Wars канала Sounds From The Corner