Couple

COUPLE – TOP OF THE POP (Independent)

Track Listing

Now That I Can See (preview available at Band's MySpace)

Rock ‘N’ Roll

Tentang Kita

Gotta Be My Gurl (preview available at Band's MySpace)

Turning Melancholy to Magic

It Don’t Mean Much

Say Hi

Come Back Again

Maybe

You Don’t Have To Be So Nice

Are You Ready?

Review:

Couple has always been a square meal of rice, meat and two sets of vegetables—certainly not Kevin Shields’ cuppa. The lack of frilly overdubs is essential because it leaves sufficient elbow space for frontman Aidil Rusli’s catchy melodies to have a peek-a-boo. Not unlike Guided By Voices (minus the spontaneous buzz and hisses), Couple is a cutesy foursome with pretty smiles and the likelihood to have a picnic at least once a year, barring Aidil’s tendency to drop a toilet joke during live shows.

Having released some pretty infectious lo-fi gems in the past, Top Of The Pop is Couple’s first proper LP. Listening to it is like sitting through a movie trailer: you get it short, sweet and with only the best bits. Every track is a breezy listen. But unlike the majority of trailers, Top Of The Pop is a movie that exceeds the trailer’s quick-edited hype. Unlike an 80s rock record where you have to keep forwarding to the customary ballad, Couple has a knack for writing that killer tune—and they do it bloody consistently on every track.

Whether it is the rollicking horns on set closer ‘Are You Ready’ or the cutesy breezy swing on ‘Say Hi’, Couple shamelessly dons its pleated flower shirts and prom dancing like it’s 1965. But 60s pleasantries are usually forgiven, and like a sturdy pair of Levis, they rarely go out of style. Being raised on a crash diet of Lennon and McCartney has caused little indigestion as Aidil churns out retro pop buns like the Roti Boy kitchen. The difference is, people are buying Aidil’s silly take on how he wants you to be his girl.

Couple proves a theory: that if you write them well, classy, old-fashioned pop tunes rarely go out of style. Aidil has been writing excellent pop music for years now, mostly under the radar of the majors—which, frankly, suits the rest of us just fine. While he and the band would probably argue that Top Of The Pop is influenced by the BMX Bandits, the record’s bright outlook and blatant melodies suggest a less cynical source. But whether drawing from Aidil’s obsession for American power pop or a wanking tribute to the music he grew up with, it’s hard to deny the fact that this is a brilliant pop record. And by brilliant, we mean bloody, expletively brilliant.

Review by Adrian Yap; Source: THINK