Among the dozens of new acts out there, Sponge Cola has risen above the college band cliché and proven to be a formidable part of today’s Philippine rock scene.

Sponge Cola is comprised of Yael Yuzon (lead vocals and guitar), Chris Cantada (vocals and drums), Armo (guitar) and Gosh (bass), all hailing from the Ateneo de Manila University. It was during high school (1998-2002) that Yael met Gosh through the school’s theater guild, Teatro Baguntao. Yael was already known then as a solo performer, but decided anyway to form a band with Gosh and two other co-actors. The group, then called Sponge after R.S. Surtee’s Mr. Sponge’s Sporting Tour, won in several high school competitions which began the buzz not just in their school but other campuses as well.

Through time, some of the members of the old lineup left and were replaced by Chris and Armo, the guitarist of Sponge’s brother band Rampqueen. Another batchmate, Raymond Fabul, began to manage both Sponge and Rampqueen. However, the boys were about to find out that a Detroit grunge band had already claimed the name Sponge. “But we wanted to keep the word Sponge in our band name because people have already associated us with that name,” Yael relays. “So we decided to add ‘Cola’, since it’s an easy enough word to remember.” Sponge Cola, as we know it, was therefore officially born in the summer of 2002.

They came up with the ubiquitous orange self-titled EP in the last quarter of 2003 containing five original songs: “Lunes,” “A Tear,” “Saturn,” “Cigarette” and “Jeepney.” The two songs penned in the vernacular were what made the band catch the public’s attention. “Lunes,” written by Gosh, begins with a catchy bossa nova-esque beat that suddenly shifts to a heavy rock riff, a nuance in arrangement which surprisingly served the song superbly. Second single “Jeepney” was written by a classmate for a school project back in 2001 and is a reminiscent piece on young love during simpler, happier times. The song showcases Yael’s vocal range; that is, his uncanny ability to shift from mellow to screamo.

Through this EP, Sponge Cola was able to get extensive airplay from several local pop and rock radio stations, which helped broaden their fan base across the nation. A bootlegged copy of their version of Madonna’s “Crazy For You” even ended up on the Internet and became so big an underground hit, some listeners believed it was a Sponge Cola original. Though this misconception has been instrumental in increasing Sponge Cola’s popularity, the band has since aimed to transcend the stigma of being a cover band. They pushed their original songs to the forefront, and public response to the band became better than ever; the magic had already begun.

Sony Music Philippines managed to sign the boys for record distribution and now release Sponge Cola’s full-length debut album, entitled Palabas, thus dubbed in allusion to the band members’ theater backgrounds. The album showcases a definitive voice in unadulterated rock, reminiscent of 90s Alternative but laced with enough sing-along pop sensibility-as evidenced by the band members’ individual influences. Gosh was weaned on classic OPM from the likes of Basil Valdes and Martin Nievera; Armo lends to the rock edge, citing bands like Tool, Deftones and A Perfect Circle as influences; Chris admits to being influenced by pop-rock bands like the Beatles and Athenaeum; and Yael trips on everything from novelty songs to bubblegum-pop, from 80s power ballads to The Smashing Pumpkins, all blending into a sound that the band coins as “sad-bastard-testosterone-based pop-rock.”

The first thing you hear when you listen to Palabas is Yael belting out, “Halika na, iyong lunurin ang problema’t kalimutan,” inviting the listener to take notice and drown in Sponge Cola’s unique sound. They are also one of the few local rock bands that boast of using three part harmonies in a lot of their songs, supplied by Yael, Chris and Gosh and as seen in tracks such as “KLSP” and “Una.” Sponge Cola also experiments with unconventional elements that are normally ignored in rock recording, like the samisen (”A Japanese guitar,” Gosh boasts), the striking of amplifiers, cellphone ring tones and actual rain. The final track “Closure” faintly features the sound of a door shutting, before transposing to a melancholic acoustic number. Throughout the whole album, one cannot help but admire the genius behind each member’s musicality. Yael’s melodic prowess is accompanied by Armo’s eccentric and pedal-happy guitar playing, Gosh’s hypnotized bass lines and Chris’ intense drum rhythms.

The group’s songwriters Gosh and Yael take their lyrics from personal experiences or their friends’. “To The Sly and Cunning” deals with the controversial issue of teenage date rape while “Gemini” is a masterpiece about sensuality. Tracks to watch out for are “Stone’s Throw,” written by rock veteran Ely Buendia, and “Jillian,” which is a heartfelt ballad written and earnestly rendered by drummer Chris about loving someone from afar.

The fourteen-track album is a masterful collection of songs that evoke the honesty and turmoil of growing up in today’s globalized, postmodern world. Independently produced, it is noteworthy that four college students were able to juggle academics with recording and mixing in their home studios and playing in several rock venues all at once.

Since their conception in 2002, Sponge Cola has played in numerous school fairs, proms, music festivals such as Alliance Francaise’s Fete de la Musique, concerts, on television, and even opening for this year’s MTV Pilipinas awards night, establishing them as one of the hottest bands of this generation. They have not only garnered the adulation of fans but also the respect and recognition of critics and contemporaries. Already hailed by the press as “The Next Big Thing”, Sponge Cola is something to keep an eye on-and an ear out for-in the years to come.

source: http://www.audiostreet.net/artist.aspx?artistid=44116&mode=info