Photo courtesy of the band
For Damascus, it's better late than never. The Jakarta shoegaze band formed in 2007, but in the last decade, its four members put the project in the back burner for various reasons. Until finally, last week, they dropped their first official single "Painted Road," the first taste of their upcoming full-length debut SUPERBLASTER.I was nervous to listen to the song. I mean, it had been brewing for eleven years. But it didn't disappoint. The song starts with memorable, rockin’ guitar riffs that really set the tone. “Painted Road” is a classic shoegaze number, with its noisy distortion, swirling guitars, and memorable melodies. And after all the years playing in other bands like The Sastro and Morfem, the members' maturity is definitely showing.Indonesia has always been big on shoegaze and dream pop, stretching back from mid-to-late 90s. But sadly, most local bands tend to be short-lived. They often break up after releasing a demo, an EP, or an album. Or sometimes they just put things off way too long until their project disappears into oblivion.Peter Andriaan Walandouw, who plays guitar in Damascus and one of the owners of the Jakarta-based indie rock label Anoa Records, couldn’t give really answer why the band took so forever to release anything.
“It’s due to a lot of things like work, time and mood,” he told me. “But this single is definitely long overdue."Fortunately, “Painted Road” is worth the wait—and there's more of 'em coming. SUPERBLASTER will be released in a few weeks' time through Dismantled Records. If “Painted Road” is any indication to how good the album will be, then we should all be pumped up.