matic i like it

Super Pinoy band, Cambio, recently released their second offering “Matic”, some three years after their well-received debut album “Derby Light”.

Cambio is composed of ex-Eraserheads Raimund Marasigan (drums) and Buddy Zabala (bass) with Kris Gorra-Dancel (lead vocals and guitars) of Fatal Posporos fame, Sugarfree frontman Ebe Dancel (vocals and lead guitars), and completing the cast is Diego Mapa of Monsterbot and Pedicab (vocals, guitars and effects). Now wonder, the moniker superband or supergroup can’t be discounted.

Like their previous album, Matic dishes out an eclectic array of musical musings. And no one can doubt that the influence of the different bands from which the members come from is quite loud and clear. Pedicab’s discotechish resonance is evidenced in the songs Totoy Boogie and Bulimic. On the other hand, the Sandwich and Monsterbot rock-and-roll gusto is present in songs Admit One Thing, Rumarampa, Passengers and Pasaway. Echoes of Fatal Posporos (most probably because how Kris sings them) can be traced in Shopaholica and Pasaway. I however failed to notice the classic Ebe-Sugarfree influence. And though the lyrics of the song seem E-headish, the Eraserhead sound is not present.

If it sounds like Cambio is no more than a clone of the aforementioned bands, they are not.

Very fresh on the ears however is You Wear Me which starts off with a drum sequence very reminiscent of Sugarfree but as soon as the vocals kick in – jazz and pop-rock fusion?

All the fusion of influences has however developed a distinct Cambio sound – an amalgamation of all the good things we love about the other bands the Cambio members come from – the pop-like yet message-laden lyrics of Eraserheads, the punk rockiness of Fatal, the grungy and rock-and-roll laden attitude of Sandwich, the electricity of Monsterbot and the passion of Sugarfree.

Listen to Call Center, Rumarampa, Field Trip and Sakanasabi and you’ll get my drift on what the Cambio sound is. It’s not distinctly Sandwich or Monsterbot or Sugarfree or Fatal Posporos but something in between that can only be described as Cambio. Eraserhead in thought and concept (and lyrics) probably, but certainly no Eraserheads.

My final thoughts? If you liked Derby Light you’ll also like Matic.