Nowadays it is easy to get caught up in a soundalike pop-punk tunes, which we definitely have to admit that their catchy choruses and melodic guitar themes are so contagious. Yet ESNANAS' forthcoming self titled debut album, that will be released in December 2003, has an edge among their spiked-hair kin. The album is executively produced by BMG Indonesia. With female singer, Rachel Vla, ESNANAS sure has additional selling point within the scene. Rachel's voice is said to be a blend of Kay Hanley of Letters to Cleo and Shirley Manson of Garbage. Along with Leo Napitupulu and Yuyud Gabeller on guitars, Brian Azhar on bass, and Kiki Marino on drums, Rachel has somehow said to have found her most suitable team for translating the kind of music she wants to write. Their sound is pure energy and aggressive, but nothing's too intricate in their tunes. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that they can't play for real. Beside their catchy tunes and simple melody, this band also offers some interesting arrangements. The rhythm goes straight ahead in one section, but then it falls off to half-timing choruses, or it might wail into bridges, or the other way around. Sure they are offering mostly up-tempo songs with pop punk riff-rock formula, but you can catch your breath a little with a couple of their radio-friendly mid-tempo tunes, and with an acoustic set for easing up your ears on the last track as a coda. I think this band is trying to expand the narrow definition of ‘punk? by blending punk, hardcore, and a little of British pop to put themselves on the music scene. When it comes to lyrics, which are mostly written by Rachel, ESNANAS is expressing nothing but their honest feelings. There's this serious tune about losing your close-friend's trust, while not knowing where you've possibly had gone wrong. It's very touching,and very real. As far as influences go? this band, I must say, is heavily influenced by those line of bands in the top punk rock heap, from Blink 182, New Found Glory, The Ataris, and so on. But they say that they admit that, and they wear those influences proudly on their sleeve. Hell yeah, who's truly original anyway under this same sky. A little flash back in time, this band actually had landed a deal with Sony Music Indonesia in 1999. The label released the band's single, titled 'Kunang-Kunang', in a compilation album titled Indie Ten 2 in 2001, which came to a surprise for its national heavy-rotation in radio and TV stations all over the country. But nothing was taken furthermore seriously. The band then decided to approach BMG Indonesia by the time they finished their contract with Sony Music in January 2003. They sent 26 demo-songs, along with 3 more new additional songs as a bonus live-tracks to BMG. By the moment the guys at the label saw this band perform for an audition, they certainly knew where this band wants to go and where to put them on the platform. They even let the band takes the responsible in producing the album, while experienced-producer Gumilang Ramadhan is in tow as the band's executive producer. This is something that they can really be proud of. The band recorded their tracks at deStudio, Jakarta in April 2003. The vocals were tracked at Pendulum studio, Jakarta in May 2003, with some help from a well-known vocal director Irv Nat A.K.A Irvan ME. Far from the band's worries that the vocal director would completely distract the vocals real vibe from the music, it happened that he was pretty good at handling the job. It is said that he could help Rachel translate the real energy of the tunes, even to a better level. Two thumbs-up for this guy, and lots of thanks from the band. The band's 12-tracks record is now on a mixing and mastering process, and scheduled to be released in December 2003. Make sure you come to see this band performing live. They are so energetic and engage their audiences in their boundless energy. Their live performance is the real meaning of their music. Is not just to be listened to, but it's to be seen performed. This band is a must-see-live band! As final words, certainly their music is not for the weak-minded. Their tunes are morning-anthem, a music that you will play out loud in the morning to wake you up, to help you out from your morning cobweb, and to get ready kicking out the day? With their radio-friendly tunes, experienced and energetic live performances, and great support from a major label, BMG Music Indonesia, hopefully ESNANAS won't be just another blip on the radar screen. Hopefully they can bring new energy to the already boring music scene in Indonesia; boring because of the so-typical corny music played by these bunch of so-typical bands. Gross!!