Screaming for attention: Mom's On Strike want you to listen

Her words seep out in a single protracted, languid breath. “I don’t warm up my vocals. It just comes out. It’s very tiring. It hurts your back,” intones Jasmine Chew, the irreverent frontgirl/screamer of Malaysian post-punk band Mom’s on Strike. This relaxed demeanour is almost diametrically opposed to the frenetic, near-maniacal persona that she espouses onstage. “When I was younger, I went to a vocal class. I use my diaphragm,” she continues, explaining her distinctive affinity to yelp, screech and wail her way through the band’s often virulent tracks.

Drummer Kamal is the post-punk enthusiast cum walking music encyclopaedia who, along with Acheh on guitar and Kwan on bass, would found the band and make up the rhythmic triumvirate to bookend Jasmine’s effusive vocal tirades. The lads learnt that grasp of their crisp, angular sonic dynamics was no mere amuse bouche, though. Together, Mom’s on Strike sound like the anatomised cadaver of The Blood Brothers giving Fugazi the fist sammich while drunkenly violating Bikini Kill. All of which make their brand of elasticated, danceable and eardrums-mangling post-punk an intriguing listen.

In fact, such is their popularity within the underground mise-en-scène that within one week of recording their first track ‘Size XL’ in 2007, local label Papakerma (who’d heard them online) swung by to offer a gig slot. “We were nervous. I remember that towards the end, everyone came to the front and sang with us.” It would be the first of a slew of voluminous gigging opportunities that would span the better part of two years–culminating in a whistle-stop tour of Terengganu, Penang, Ipoh and KL with celebrated Aussie post-hardcore outfit Eucalpyt-“When koalas eat those, they get stoned,” Jasmine adds with a giggle. Not bad for a band who still consider themselves misfits of a burgeoning, increasingly homogenous “indie” community with ephemeral bands who take themselves too seriously. “It’s a hobby band. We just wanna have a good time,” the fulltime kindergarten teacher insists.

Garnering a positive review by American punk zine Give It Back in their third issue, and being namedropped by other local and international music rags have only served to cultivate aspirations to greater heights. “It would be cool to play Rock The World,” remarks Jasmine. “The small gigs are okay, but we’ve played all of them.  We wanna get excited again.”

Galvanised by the brisk sale of their demo EP (all 300 copies have since sold out), the band will be recording new material “at the end of this month”. The song titles–‘Mexican Telenovella’, ‘Animal Dancing’ and ‘Ropee Retro’–like their band name, were decided on for their humour and effect. “The song titles are random. We like listeners to judge.” We can’t wait to.

WORDS JARROD PHOTOS MOM'S ON STRIKE
www.myspace.com/momsonstrike