Dont Be Scared, I Wont F¤¢# You Anyway

The subtle sarcasm may be seen in that title of a fictional, twisted love song but SUPER PANALO SOUNDS! by Lourd De Veyra still reminds me more of Tom Wolfe's Electric Kool Aid Acid Test and the film Almost Famous (with ultra hot Kate Hudson as the lead groupie chick) since as soon as you begin to enjoy the rise of the greatest postmodern pinoy rock combo, you will be doused with an ice cold beer to realize that the end also, has just begun. Typical ending for a good story that would have best represented a rock n roll generation if only this book were published in the 90's.

But this central theme will probably make De Veyra's novel a distinctive one given that first; I cannot remember a great Filipino novel that centers on the life and death of a rock n' roll band and second; the obvious warning of taking the high road tells us that it's also not that different from taking the low road.

More like a period novel/historical fiction than just a cautionary tale, I can also remember Barriotic Punk by Mes De Guzman but the carrier story in that book tells us more about a group of die hard punks in the 80's as mere followers of the movement (since they can hardly be considered as artists) and not as frontliners themselves in De Veyra's story. In short, the kids of Barriotic Punk belonged to the mosh pit while the kids of Super Panalo Sounds! belonged to the stage.

The punk-jazz combo of Vic, Milo, Dax, Budik, and Zorro may never be that different from other bands but if you're a music collector, you should be on the lookout for their one and only missing album, courtesy of a man mysteriously named Malcolm. The catch is, everything exists only in the fictional world. Except for Pepe Smith himself.

Extra Joss: This book officially contains 162 pages and I tried counting the number of 'fu€k' words and its derivatives. My tally is 86. It doesn't mean anything for sure but if my count is wrong, somebody let me know.



Rating: 4 grams of "harina" out of 5
Genre: Postmodern, Filipino Novel, Music, Rock n' Roll