A SOUND WORTH BANKING ON
(BY PAT LAW)
Paying tribute to the rogue trader who single-handedly brought down Old Blighty’s oldest bank from the backyard of our motherland, and hence raping us from our otherwise untainted reputation of sobriety; Leeson strives to produce the same devastating impact with their music. Formed in 2004, Leeson’s latest EP, “Speed Dating”, which was sold out in just ten minutes at Baybeats 2008, should finally earn them the acclaim they deserve.
While the nation begins, about time, if I may add, to pay attention to the growing local music scene, one band seems grotesquely neglected. Why, I pondered. Is it because there isn’t a hot chick planted in the middle looking potentially sexually versatile caressing her instrument? Or perhaps because they aren’t too big on charcoaled eyes and the-whole-world-hates-me emotionally charged lyrics? Maybe it’s because of that porcelain of a white bloke in the middle who does the vocals. Great set of wistful sounding pipes, mate. But you can’t call yourself local if you’ve got an import. Well I didn’t realise Music requires passports.
Leeson is the sum of five vastly individual men combined to form the perfect equation of euphorically chirpy soundscapes married with emotional platitudinising lyrics. Born out of an honest desire to create Music, Leeson sounds like a barrage of The Beatles, The Kooks, Morissey, Radiohead, Wilco, and New Order with an unfamiliar bittersweet aftertaste. It is probably fair to describe Leeson as a cult band who really doesn’t care much beyond brutally beautiful songs – their EP is available for sale only during their live shows, they cannot be arsed to have a record store as a distribution channel, and they consider the most recent recording a song for a fan’s wife’s birthday not just the strangest, but also the coolest thing they have ever done. It was a spontaneous collaboration between the fan and the band that made the moment magical and unique, they said.
Jamie Gibbings, Gerald Teo, Thomas Wu, Brian Koh and Mark Cheng are the 5 Transformers that combine to form the giant cocktail for mass destruction. Jamie, with his voice dry as a fine glass of London gin, handles the Vocals. Gerald and Thomas fight like an old married couple with their poetic licks of their guitars, with Brian guiding them through with his impassioned Bass. Mark provides the much-needed heartbeat of the band with his Drums. When asked to describe themselves, the band was incredibly deadpanned. Jamie, the joker and observer. Gerald, the stoic creative one. Thomas, friendly and charming always. Brian, the geeky worrisome self-appointed mother of the band, and Mark, the edgy and brashful rebel.
The band feels that the local music scene has always existed, with passionate and talented musicians constantly producing great sounds regardless of language or genre, even before its current surge in popularity. That said, the band pointed out the reality of this capitalist infested world – the English music scene is greatly deprived of radio airplay, Marketing and Label support. “The bands are there, the fans are there, but our mainstream economic and media forces don’t seem to pay us much heed,”, Brian observed. “I think we need to expose Singapore music to the rest of the world beyond the region. We could start with the region definitely, but I think local bands need international exposure as well. To experience what goes on beyond our shores so that our music standards can constantly be improved.”
The band, as honest as their passion are, went on to express the need for additional media platforms to be made available for local bands to showcase their talent. “We’re okay with gigs, but by supporting our local artists on local airwaves, it will help raise greater awareness,” explained Brian. “It’s not about wanting to be a rockstar or anything, but we’re proud to be a “Made-in-Singapore” band, and we are proud of contributing our part to Singapore’s art and culture,” It saddens me that our local radio stations would much rather give Britney Spears and her wailing more airtime than to a malevolent synth of local masterpieces. It saddens me how we, without giving the local music scene a chance to grow, have already used them for what Geoff Barrow of West Country’s finest band, Portishead, refer as “the fondue society”, a phrase he first used 11 years ago to describe people who use albums as background music when they sit down for supper. Why is this so, I wondered as I soaked myself into the tantalising flavour of Leeson. Why is our main dish left to freeze against the blistering cold? Surely your mother has told you to eat it whilst it’s hot? Believe me and my ears on this, Leeson is best served hot.
Leeson’s latest EP, “Speed Dating” comprises of 2 Internet-released songs, “Some Girls” and “Absolute Beginners”, as well as a potent new song, “Mr & Mrs”. Whimsical, psychedelic, malicious, and well, happy for the lack of a better description, the EP promises a drugged up journey like no other, without the drugs but of course. Leeson’s Singaporean.
By the band’s own admission, Leeson’s music is best played when things are going great in your life. “Our music is terrible when you need to vent or get angry with something,” the band admitted. So while you should think twice about getting Leeson’s EP for that depressed, freshly unemployed Investment Banker friend of yours from Lehman Brothers, you might just want to consider getting it for yourself, to celebrate the fact that you never liked that asshole of an Investment Banker friend who stole your girlfriend in the first place.