Kamikazee – Kamikazee (2002)
Buruguduystun minus the funny fillers–that’s OK, the gags are in the songs (Susuntukin ko ang kili-kili mo). Parokya Ni Edgar only punkier, heavier, ballsier, more profane: PU–tangina nasan ang chinelas ko? Ballsy enough to make fun of and at the same time celebrate angry nu metal (“Chinelas,” “Turon”). You don’t have to take it too seriously, they seem to say. What separates them from the pack of angsty bands with downtuned guitars? They’re self-aware. They also know fortune and fame isn’t all (“Lucky”). Their melodic-hardcore/pop-punk doesn’t suck either (“Mmm Sarap”, “Girlfriend”). That insufferable Ariel Rivera ballad we all thought was beyond redemption? Salvaged with a rollicking cover. A-
Kamikazee – Maharot (2006)
Just when I thought they knew when to trim that which needs trimming — the length of their songs, the number of tracks — they got overly cocky. Maybe because they knew they got surefire hits long before this CD hits the record store. That is, months before Eula Valdez grace the cover of Maharot, and before the band would complain that they always use up all their load to vote for their own songs to push them up the radio/music channel charts, some of these songs (“Narda,” “Chiksilog,” and “Sobrang Init”) were already crowd favorites, partly because Angel Locsin plays sexy superheroine on GMA7, partly because the kids play Ragnarok, but mainly because these songs were catchy as hell. With 14 cuts and an hour long (excluding bonus materials), this is more padded than their debut, and definitely could use a trim. But in an industry that doesn’t allow for B-sides to exist, can’t really blame them if they insist in putting in every inch of their, um, this whatever they are offering here. B+
Kamikazee – Long Time Noisy (2014)
Paulit-ulit man, ‘di ka pagsasawaan — in love, um, relationship, yes. In punk/rock, not all the time (see [late] Ramones, Rancid, RHCP, or Parokya Ni Edgar — those who made the same album over and over). Small changes, little variations, some innovations are welcome, though not always to be expected. So, is this more of the same? Yes, but they’re still good at what they do best (“Ikaw,” “Unang Tikim,” “4:20,” “Hot Mami”), and they even came up with with bad-ass tribute to FrancisM. And? They’re still bad at trimming that which needs trimming — the long noisy non-killers and fillers. B+
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