and in a blindling flash/ we ended in a crash

Yay in order to celebrate me missing baybeats at the esplanade ( note to self: always write full name and IC no. instead of just an index number lest the officer examiner gets pissed) , here's a madcap jingly made-in-singapore tune that my brother introduced to the hard disk just a couple of years. Right maybe Serenaide has been around for some time already and this song was released much earlier but eh I have never heard them on radio before back then so shoot me.

The only other song I can think of that might feature a local district or sight is that irritating ' let's take a walk down Singapore town/ it's an unforgettable sight' tune that you can hear around from time to time on any Singapore Tourism Board sanctioned advertisment or something. I dont know about you but finally hearing someone singing about a place which you can actually identify with, or at least pass by on a bus ride ( no. 76 for me) is a plus. But of course novelty gimmicks would fast wear themselves out if there was nothing underneath ( no wait I would give a LOT to hear a decent song about Upper Serangoon Shopping Center or perhaps Girl From Hougang -- there was a girl from hougang, she lived right next to me/ curse that name of a place Minton Rise/ lalalaaa la laa--)

Anyway apart from the local reference another thing that makes this song shine is the insanely eh.. *sparkly* guitar hooks. Like the lyrics they arent exactly amazing by themselves plus they are might be rather same sounding throughout but look, who cares? Fluff singaporean powerpop with something in it that begs you to put in on again and again without any idea why. And hooray to globalization and the net for Serenaide's latest single with "a very strong ' Friday, I'm In Love' vibe ", was featured on a pretty popular musicblog by this guy from US, Annapolis who describes them as "clearly influenced highly by The Cure and Belle and Sebastian". And that's a combo I have always been trying to find in new bands, the Cure's hookfilled wide eyed dark brash teen feel ( heh I shall think of something nicer sounding later) with B&S's gorgeous and delicate slightly whimsy melodies, but I never thought of looking in the backyard..

Hm but it puts The Cure's hit Love Cats in a new light if you sorta imagine that it was inspired by one of those gangly singapore matted mewing strays that Robert Smith encountered one day when he walked out of his HDB flat.

Serenaide - Girl From Katong

here's their site, and look for them on myspace for more songs too:

heh and scroll down a little from the Skatterbrain article I linked above for a view I entirely agree with Matt about the Pipettes and a read of a hilarious transcript.

an interview with the band done by a Victorian a few months back too