Sounds from the sea, with no immediate access to a beach. Hailing from Jatinangor, a district located on the eastern outskirts of Bandung, smack in the middle of West Java, is the hypertalented Indonesian surf rock outfit The Panturas. The phenomenal four-piece was formed back in 2016, featuring Abyan Nabilio on vocals and guitar, Rizal Taufik on guitar, Surya Fikri on drums and Bagus Gogon on bass, when it released its debut single "Fisherman's Slut" and caught a wave of attention. In 2018 the group released its debut album "Mabuk Laut" ('Seasick') and continued to put beach-themed music on the folk-ridden map.
Drawing inspiration from Tarantino flicks and '60s-era US surf pioneers the likes of Dick Dale, instrumental (surf) rock outfit The Ventures, Dutch-Indonesian rock and rollers The Tielman Brothers or seminal Indonesian band Eka Sapta, The Panturas set out to counteract dominant popular tendencies by blazing their own progressive trail. Though nowhere near a beach geographically speaking, the band “wanted to sort of make our own beach,” guitarist Rizal Taufik describes in a recent interview with The Jakarta Post. "I mean, people don’t need to live in mountains to make folk music, right?”
Earlier this year, we added their new single "Tafsir Mistik" ('Mystical Interpretation') to our "Greedio X April '21" playlist, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their sophomore longplayer, which just landed on Indonesian independent imprint and Jakarta-based record store La Munai. Fittingly entitled "Ombak Banyu Asmara" ('The Romance of the Waves'), the ten track album is a wildly inventive, even humorous cinematic ride from start to finish, sure to knock you off your feet, unless you've got your board beneath you. Relentlessly rocking back and forth, dynamic tides and currents will draw adventurous listeners in and set their minds afloat. And oh, what a glorious feeling it is!
You can listen to the full album below and watch the official music video to "Tafsir Mistik" below. Also, check out the group's YouTube channel for even more creative content.