Freeradio's DEAF

At present—an age dominated by K-Pop, Auto-Tune pop, and skank pop—it’s not impossible that somewhere someone might sometimes wish he’d rather be deaf. If you are this frustrated someone, listen to DEAF.

Freeradio’s new independent EP kicks off promisingly with the grungy track Deny Me. With an opening riff that declares it is a raw subterranean band you’re listening to (not one of the squeaky clean rock bunch floating in the polluted mainstream), it allows you to heat up right from the get-go. Just right for the next song, Emergency, during which you’ll most probably do the almost lost art of headbanging.

Emergency, however, is the record’s deceiving song. The opening riff, like the previous song’s, is a clever hook, but as the singer deviates from his usual singing style (he sounds like he’s intoxicated) you may need some time to get used to the vocals or it might fool you into thinking that Freeradio is an unsophisticated garage band.

While Emergency isn’t the most remarkable song in the EP, at least it has the most energetic chorus. Nothing spectacular; just plain hyper fun. Imagine yourself in a small jam-packed music club in the early ‘90s, watching a band rocking out with a tipsy front man. You lose yourself in the music, a riot breaks out, and the lead singer sings out Emergency’s chorus: settle down, settle down.

And settle down indeed: Easily outshining Emergency is the next track, Arms Around—the sort of rock song that starts seemingly tame and ignites with a chorus that oozes through the soul at first emergence:

Forever in the dark and always praying . . .
The load upon your back won't keep you kneeling . . .

Had this song been released during the early ‘90s, this song would have been huge, instantly. Incredibly, this isn’t the record’s biggest hit. That label belongs to the EP’s splendid finale:

Falls Free.

Opening with a woman’s melodic moaning, the song churns flaming guitar works and heartfelt words into one lingering rock masterwork. Now forget about ‘90s comparison; as far as Falls Free is concerned, DEAF is timeless.

One might fancy that the gods of rock must have headbanged excessively back in the rock heydays and created a massive dent in the time-space continuum, causing four mighty fine songs to swerve and leap from the glorious past directly to the dreary future. But no, this recording gem has been created in present day Calbayog, Philippines.

Track after track, DEAF’s power rises, ultimately reaching a cathartic peak. It’s a tight record with an intentional lo-fi approach, a sublimated dirty finger in the face of musical banality.


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You can download DEAF for free here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/W5NJtE8C/Freeradio-DEAF_RestlessBed.html