There's a point in Rumah Sakit's debut self-titled album where the drummer
purposefully fumbles his sticks to make a semi-rhythmic beat as it hits and
settles on the ground. At that point, as the random-sounding piano playing
twinkles in the background, you might start to worry that the band is about to
sacrifice momentum for a snotty, pretentious, drawn out study in music theory.
Thankfully, that never happens, and the band uses such tom foolery only for the
introduction to the song "Bring On the Cobras" not as its whole being; by the 1
minute mark, the flowing bass backbone to the song has come in, letting no
momentum slip away from the album's flow, and by the 3 minute mark the
band has totally started rocking again.
Rumah Sakit is in some ways very much a throwback to the 70s prog rock bands
like King Crimson and Pink Floyd. Obviously, though, the band doesn't show
the breadth of either of those bands in their prime. There is no mellotron.
This is no concept album. For the most part, Rumah Sakit is a straight rock
four piece. Like King Crimson, there are plenty of jazzlike musings going
around, but unlike that band, the Sakit never gets more than ankle deep in jazz
trappings like improvisation or attempts at a true free jazz style. Like King
Crimson, though, this album is ripe with polyrhythm, complex timings, and huge,
monolithic guitar riffs.
Actually, this doesn't put them too far off the territory of the first two
June of 44 albums or the Shipping News. Their jazz influence is a bit more
pronounced than those 2 bands, sort of bringing to mind a band like Storm &
Stress, but Rumah Sakit at their least coordinated is more coordinated than
Storm & Stress every wants to be. "Scott & Jeremiah" starts off with a
guitarist trying to find his way, quietly and slowly forming a melody as the
drummer makes snapping and popping sounds in the background. Just as the
guitarist finds his groove, the drummer joins in more fully, leading both
instruments into spurts of stuttering and stammering. By the three minute mark
the groove is back in and the rest of the band has showed up, sending the song
through several movements of full rock glory.
Unlike most current rock bands trying to be hard, both indie and
mainstream, nothing on this album really approaches being metal, which is
commendable. And unlike many prog bands and later June of 44 material, Rumah
Sakit never lets their other influences or styles get in the way of making rock
the heart of each song. Better records have been released this year, I know.
However, I've been listening to this record a lot. It seems to fill a void in
current music that has been there for quite a while. Yes, they're an
instrumental rock band, but both of those words describe the band.
Rumah Sakit is an instrumental rock band that rocks.
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