Allow Him to be 'Prank'
Orientation
October 7, 2009

Philippine Indie musician Prank Sinatra says ‘To hell with hi-fi!.’

I thought my earphones were broken. The pair cost me a thousand flat, and yet I wasn’t getting that crisp hi-fidelity sound I’m so accustomed to.  Perhaps my discman is suspect.  I randomly pushed the buttons, knocked the cover a few times, sprayed WD-40 into the headphone socket.  Nada.  The audiophile in me was about to slash his wrists.

But perhaps that’s the prank that P. Sinatra himself, Iman Leonardo, cooked up inside his diabolically smart and funny noodle.  Indeed, his hazy yet witty musings on everyday life are best captured and preserved in lo-fi music.  It’s raw and melancholic,  incoherent yet sincere.  A bit divergent from the anger and bloodlust he once championed playing bass guitar for the Philippine goth band Dominion.

 Philippine Indie musician Prank Sinatra says ‘To hell with hi-fi!
Musically, Prank Sinatra is not something new in the Pinoy indie music scene.  In fact, listening to Mr. P’s first 2 albums, THE F-DEFECT and FOOTLONG PLAYERS (both DIY projects brewed by his very own D-Chord Records), is like breaking open a time capsule buried during the heydays of 80’s cassette culture.  Back in the days when mainstream radio was devoid of the sonic innovations of the underground, tape swapping was the best, if not the only conceivable way to disseminate the music. But that many bootlegs and recycled tapes can dull a recording like knife on gravel.  Good thing Prank produced his on cds.  It did save me the rewinding time. In addition, he quite successfully gave props to an archaic subculture, to the delight of today’s indie-loving, iPod-toting generation.

Mr. P’s songwriting, on the other hand, is much more pristine, and gin-pomelo refreshing than the lackluster sounds of overused tape.  His elemental storytelling juxtaposed with slacker-happy melodies and instrumentation kinda reminds me of Lola Basyang tripping on Pink Floyd while smoking a blunt.  I didn’t think jeans had so much dimension until I heard ‘Pelegis’, the 11th cut from his F-Defect album. 

So shut up, Mr. Audiophile.  There’s more to music than crystal highs and bowel-blasting lows.  Ever heard of imagination?

Rating: 4/5

- Dexter Ayala

Link: http://www.myspace.com/akapranksinatra