Bakit: Nice Sound, Twisted Lyrics

This song is one of the sickest and most twisted I have ever heard in a long while. If I’m at a low point in my life and I heard this on a radio, I would have slammed my radio to a wall.

I hate the Maldita name. I have seen their album in the net a bunch of times but I didn’t want to download it because I thought they were some jolog band.

That is, until I heard this tune.

I think it’s wrong for me to sing Maldita’s Bakit out loud. Like I said, how can you be happy listening to this song when the song itself talks about regret in the meanest of ways? The Tagalog Language has one of the most brutal words you can ever imagine. Ever wondered why it’s cool to say “shit” but it’s shameless to say “tae” out loud? Blame colonial mentality or blame ignorance of proper usage but like I said, our language is kind of mean. This is why it hits home whenever I hear Bakit. This song has much more anguish than Hungry Young Poets’ Firewoman or Sugarfree’s Kwarto. The song starts out sweet with the acoustic guitar plucked nicely and ends up in shout mode with the glare of the band setup indicating the person’s emotions from getting heartbroken to bitter and vengeful.

In a way, their sound reminds me a superb concoction of MYMP, Zelle, and Moonstar88. Most of the bands I mentioned have disbanded. Moonstar88 is virtually a new band while not that old reliable like Kitchie Nadal and Barbie Almalbis are poised to mount a comeback from the gig scene. I got a copy of their album and Bakit alongside Selosa, Tuliro, Crossroads, and Dehado are standing out as their top singles. I think their style revolves around jumpy tunes that talk about falling in and out of love.

It’s easy for people to check out the lyrics of Bakit. Like I said, it’s a severe concoction of pain and anguish rolled into one delightful song. There is a version of the Bakit song called Porque where it probably tells the listeners of the band’s southern roots.

Because of the song Maldita is breaking out nicely in the mainstream route. With bands disappearing and only a handful of bands getting significant radio airplay plus the return to favor of foreign music, I’m guessing Maldita, General Luna, and Tanya Markova will usher in the start of the 2010’s alongside superstar bands like Parokya Ni Edgar, Itchyworms, Sponge Cola, Kamikazee, and most of the Eraserheads-spawned bands like Pupil and Sandwich. Hopefully they succeed because I really want to see OPM returning to favor.

Game over.