From Joelle Jacinto of www.pulse.ph

I must admit to not being acquainted with Narda before this, their second album, which most Narda enthusiasts would say is quite a shame. The Narda fans I know add that it’s practically a whole new band that I've stumbled upon—of the original line-up, only the vocalist and drummer/main songwriter remain, and the sound between albums is vastly different.

I agree that it is definitely different from their earlier material genre-wise: the four EPs and the succeeding first album (which did not contain any of the songs from the previous EPs, how cool is that?), are dreamier than Discotillion, which in contrast is straight up dance punk. Still, I don't find it all that different at the core. Sure it's a different sound, but there are similar elements that may be called signature Narda — the delightful melodies that clash and mesh, the driving rhythms, Katwo Librando. She's a lot edgier on this new one, but it's still her pulling out all these sounds and styles from a seemingly endless bag of tricks.

Flooded with elements of dance punk, Narda's Discotillion has, at its core, the rock sensibilities of Blondie and The Doors—sexy, energetic, sinister. Katwo's voice is in turns aggressive and wistful, furious and soulful. Two layers of her voice sing together in the verses of the first track, "Molotov": a full-bodied and energetic vocal in the foreground backed by a would-be louder one filtered through a megaphone. You feel her frustration in "Ang Mitsa," and it's not because she's practically screaming. She sounds very sexy in "Gasolina," like a woman who has definitely come into her own, and almost threatening in "Kay Lab," a 70s disco track where she's asking a guy to dance with her, and probably so much else, but he's so torpe. We relate, of course.

Ryan Villena seems to have dropped Narda's former poignant aura in favor of a more in-your-face, angrier one. Like leaving a sundress-clad flower child girlfriend for a no-commitment chick in leather, lace and platform heels. Then again, this could be the same girlfriend, growing up, so to speak. We could already see traces of the transformation in previous songs like "Glum" and "Detox." The new crop of songs still have the creamy dreamy melodies that marked the band's earlier sound, this time powered by more intensity. "Molotov" and "Batang Munti" are quite infectious and most of the songs make you wanna get up and dance, angry lyrics or no. When the vibe slows down, this intensity doesn't diminish, as you can hear on "Golden Boy," "Alta Presyon" and "100 Taon." The band's line-up change is most obvious on "Alta Presyon," which has lots of electronic ambient sounds weaving through the song. "100 Taon" is a heavy, almost cumbersome song, with the compelling melodic line that will definitely give you LSS. The album ends with "Kamikazee," a cheeky retort to the band with the recent hit song entitled "Narda."

Hopefully, now that I've heard all five discs and have become a fan of both Nardas, when I do finally go and see them live, they'll both be there. And maybe I’ll get to meet Narda # 3.

PULSE RATE: 9.0