Album Review
Teenage Disc Fantastic - Couple
By Robin Banks
Some bands like to ‘experiment’ with their trademark sound with every new release. Others choose to ‘evolve’ and incorporate radical new ideas and sounds but not these guys (and gal).
With Couple, led by affable frontman and songwriter Aidil Rusli, what one tends to get plenty of every time around is the thing they love most and do best - vibrant, catchy-as-hell power pop laced with oodles of effervescence and swoon attacking melodic thrills. And this, ladies and gents, is a very good thing indeed.
Couple’s last album - 2007’s Top of the Pop - was a bonafide indie classic that had kids and critics from different parts of the scene all singing its praises.
For their follow up - their second self-made, full-length album - the band have delivered a sexy beast of a record that gets better with repeated listens.
Concise, (The album clocks in at a mere 25 minutes) melodic and rich with lush harmonies, crunchy, glam rock guitar and just the right amount of pop without being too plastic or cheesy.
On the whole, Teenage Disc Fantastic is a timely reminder of how unpretentious and uncomplicated indie music used to and can still be.
Sure, it doesn’t push any sonic envelopes but if you like your melodic, seventies style pop rock, than this is the perfect record for you.
Standout moments? Well, songs don’t come much catchier than the groovy opener C’mon Operator, a song so infectious that it has managed to chalk up more than million plays on myspace, no mean feat indeed for an obscure underground band from Malaysia.
Elsewhere, the likes of Love You Yes, Get Over You and Menarilah Hey overflows with a punky exuberance that recalls the mighty Buzzcocks at the height of their powers, with the melodic flair of Cheap Trick and The Raspberries thrown in the mix for good measure.
With its fast and direct power pop songs about girls, falling in love, having fun and more girls, Couple’s Teenage Disc Fantastic is quite simply the kind of record that is very easy to get attached to. With great tunes galore and plenty of charm to go around, this is a gem of a record that can make you smile widely and quietly glow with nostalgia. Hell, you can even dance like a teenager to it it’s that upbeat.
In fact, it’s so much fun, you won’t be reaching for the skip button on the CD player at any point. One to check out, especially if you are a fan of guitar driven tunes and sweet harmonies.
To listen to Couple frontman Aidil Rusli talk about their new album Teenage Disc Fantastic, click here to check out this exclusive Koko Asia podcast.
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