All-Time Favorite Bands

             Do you think music is a part of our daily life? Researchers claimed that music is one of the ways to heal our mental states and is also helpful when it comes to boosting our mood. There are so many types of music: rock, RnB, hip hop, pop, country, etc. sung by many talented artists. I am sure people have their favorite music to listen to, to fix their mood when they are having a bad day, or just to begin a good day with a good song. For me, I listen to all kinds of music but my current favorite are these local bands called rumahsakit and The Panturas. rumahsakit and The Panturas are bands that are both categorized as independent artists because they are not tied to a major record label. However, my two favorite bands here have quite more differences than similarities.

            The first and the most highlighted genre between rumahsakit and The Panturas is the genre. rumahsakit’s songs fall under the alternative genre. The alternative genre here means rumahsakit does not exclusively have a genre. As a band, they explore pop, Britpop, and psychedelic. For example, their song titled “Duniawi” adopted the pop genre, “Kuning” is a Britpop song, and in “Apa Yang Tak Bisa” they experimented with psychedelics. Whereas The Panturas only stick to one genre which is surf rock (a sub-genre of rock). Surf rock is related to surf culture and beaches. The name of this band is a spin-off from a famous American surf rock band that influenced the group. The band members changed The Ventures into The Panturas to make it more local. The Panturas’s songs are thick with beach atmosphere, for instance, their song called “Menuju Palung Terdalam”.

            These two bands also have differences when it comes to determining the theme of their songs. rumahsakit usually picks love and loss for the theme of their songs. In their song “Kuning”, the theme is both love and also about losing someone. “Kuning” tells a story about a man who loves someone dearly and even though the person he loves has left him, he is still willing to wait until the day this person comes back and asks to meet him to release the longing he keeps in his dreams. Meanwhile, The Panturas prefer to raise social issues and tragedy in Indonesia and put their imagination to create a storyline based on the issues. For starters, their song “Sunshine” is based on Peristiwa Mei 1998 which is considered one of the darkest tragedies in Indonesian history. The “Sunshine” music video shows a father and his son driving around in a car and singing along together. At the end of the clip, the father is alone in the car and he arrives at a cemetery. What the music video is trying to tell us is the father’s son is one of the students who joined the Peristiwa Mei 1998 demonstration and perished during the demonstration.

          When comparing and contrasting rumahsakit and The Panturas, we can see they both have differences. Starting from their genre, and the story/inspiration behind their songs. Though there are differences, each band has its uniqueness and the members are able to embellish the music scene in Indonesia with their work and effort to bring something fresh into the scene. I really hope rumahsakit and The Panturas could get more recognition for their creation.