15. Dead Ends – New Life

Thanks to the 1990s reissues of most of the albums in the Twisted Red Cross catalog, I was able to appreciate seminal Pinoy punk band Dead Ends. It was a relief to finally listen to these classics  in hi-fidelity audio. Second Coming, Dead Ends‘ aptly titled sophomore effort even came with a lyrics sheet.

I was already aware of the punk scene in the 80s but was too young to be allowed to attend the Brave New World concert series. When I was already in high school, punk concerts were still a no-no because, thanks to the media, Pinoy punk was branded as music for satanistas by virtue of the black shirts worn by kids to these gigs.

The closest I got to listening to Dead Ends’ music was from a dilapidated mixed tape of Damned Nation, their third album. By then, Dead Ends had already moved on to speed/hardcore; this album clocks at under 20 minutes. And because the entire album was copied onto the last minutes of an TDK-45 blank tape, two songs were missing including the punk rock anthem Johnny Loves Hardcore.

I never saw Dead Ends live. My memory of the band came from stories from friends. My friend Zaldy, who’s five years older, told me about this impromptu Dead Ends gig at one of the New Wave/Punk boutiques along Recto Ave. He swore it was impromptu because there wasn’t any gear at all when he walked in and in no time, there was Al Dimalanta screaming and strumming.

There was also Maria who was introduced to me as an English teacher but I later found out to be a Pinoy underground music insider. She told me how she became the first journalist to interview Al Dimalanta for the legendary Jingle Music Magazine.

Of course, there was also the faint underground music buzz. Al and his bassist brother Jay (RIP) are sons of revered poetess Ophelia Dimalanta. They recruited Harvey Alarcon, the meanest, fastest and youngest drummer then. He later played drums for Rizal Underground and POT.

My classmate in college had Al as English literature teacher in high school. He said he wore Luciano Creepers shoes to school. I also read somewhere that Dead Ends vied for the defunct 80s noon time show Ito Yon, Ang Galing’s battle of the bands contest and lost.

The band had detractors, too. Who didn’t? Al Dimalanta was always branded as a Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) wanna-be, vocals-wise that is. That they sang songs in English when Pinoy punk was music of the masses.

Ultimately, nobody can deny the tremendous talent of this Pinoy power trio. They were the first Pinoy band I heard who played with blinding speed without losing the tightness, the catchy riffs, the melodic bass lines, the complicated drumming, the angry young man rhetoric.

Click here to listen to New Life:

I’m too drowsy by I must get out of bed.
Now I know it’s hard to put the mind over the flesh.
Waking up with dead weights on my head.
Another case of too much change too soonI’ve got a brand new life and it’s just what I need
A brand new life and it’s just what I need right now

I’ve just come out from a fit of boredom and nothing is the same
Everyday I play my part in a carefully scripted play
Everyday I work to earn my pay but I don’t know just where the envelope goes

Unlike before when I could get up late
Nobody looking over my shoulders
Unlike before when I don’t have to act civilized
But now I have to be a square
Now I have to act respectable
And now I could make use of what I’ve learned

I’ve got a brand new life and it’s just what I need
A brand new life and it’s just what I need right now