Imagine you’re a teenager and you have just moved to the consumer culture United States from the war-torn Philippines; suddenly you have to adapt to a new life in America. How do you express yourself, and what do you say? How do you liberate the militant beast inside you? Music! Or more aptly put - ROCK! This is the story of Flattbush....
Let's start at the present, sixteen years post-emigration. Reading reactions from Flattbush's first album Smash the Octopus! reveals a few key words: "brutal," "unapologetic," " breathless," "never restrained," "impressive,” “chaotic” (need we continue?) This newest album Seize the Time! is no different. Flattbush assault you sonically and lyrically, capturing every opportunity to shake you out of your complacency.
From the stirring “Welga” to the percussive machine gun attack on “Lupa,” Seize the Time! is an album that excites you beginning to end. “Passion of Satan” even details a first-hand account of excruciating torture from a man Flattbush encountered on the road. No worries, though: the lounge-y but politically tense “Community Organizer” is just enough to give you a breather so you don’t experience cardiac arrest. Thanks to the exceptional production by Billy Gould (Faith No More), Flattbush’s Seize the Time! is an album that explicitly showcases the band in their most raw demonstrative state.
Flattbush is primal power without the polish; their arrangements are as unorthodox as they are mind-blowing. Their instruments are their weapons and their methods employ the innovation and efficiency of a jungle guerilla. The songs are not only sung in English, but also in Tagalog, and Kapampangan – native languages of the Philippines. The inclusion of their native tongue increases the tension and underlines the significance of Flattbush’s no-holds-barred political invective and confrontational themes of social injustice.
Flattbush’s political activism is not a recent development. Founding members of the band, brothers Arman and Enrico Maniago remember marching with their father in the Philippines during their very early childhood. The brothers eventually named their band after a Filipino band from the Sixties who were permanently silenced for their political dissension. While trying to settle into life in the States, with the memory of their past and the history of the Philippines permanently burned into their souls, the brothers focused their furious energy on music: they armed themselves with instruments and learned to play. The next instinctive step was to write lyrics that articulated their anger in words to complement the attack they were already creating musically: “…political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,” “Expand our force/ build the united effective front/ In factories, countryside, in our schools, church...,” “…stop the fucking harassment!/ nothing was ever done about human rights!!!” These words became lyrics, the songs took a life of their own, and the Maniago boys officially formed Flattbush while still in high school.
A friend of the brothers and a huge Flattbush fan in school, Bradley Walther joined the band right before the recording of Smash the Octopus! His songwriting fits perfectly with the band’s chemistry, and his musicianship brings a distinctive energy to the band. He has embraced Flattbush’s cultural and political attitude, even traveling to the Philippines, the physical and ideological birthplace of the band. Newest addition to the band is 19-year-old Joe Luevano, fan of Flattbush and self-taught master of the skins; one spin of Seize the Time! proves Joe’s vigor and proficiency on the drums.
After 2003’s favorable response to Smash the Octopus!, their debut album on Koolarrow Records, Flattbush took their devastating live show on the road, creating a cyclone in their wake. They have shared the stage with such acts as Fear Factory, Mike Patton, Brujeria, Melt Banana, Napalm Death, and Asesino. As Flattbush prepare for the release of Seize the Time!, they also prepare for US and European tours in 2006.
Flattbush do it raw and hard. Seize the Time! is coming out September 12, 2006 on Koolarrow Records.
Media Coverage [click link to preview or
right click & save LINK as or
Macs 'control click' save LINK as]
