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There are three things one may look for in a musician/band - good live shows, well produced album and personality. Cheating Sons passes all three criterias with flying colours.

The band exploded into the scene last year, practically a buzzword for the best local music has to offer and boy did they live up to it. From Baybeats in Singapore to Strawberry Festival in China, they proved their mettle with a relentless energy matched with their refreshing take on rock and roll.

Their music, a robust blend of anthemic hooks, melodies and signature banjo/guitar riffs, is made all the more poignant by the lyrics, which evokes a Bob Dylan-esque sensibility to the way it delivers stories of the common man. Songs like Out of a Job, Ah Long on the Run, The Kids Ain't Right from their debut album, Masters, Wives and Daughter, cuts into the mundane to deliver the raw emotion that is experienced in this city. Haunting but never pretentious, it is a narrative that is intrinsically local, yet relevant to the world in its themes on angst and heartbreak. Very much the band for people who are past the days of bourbon coke and now go straight for the whisky.

We caught up with the Cheating Sons in the videos below. Their album - Masters, Wives and Daughter is available at major record shops and on their bandcamp http://cheatingsons.bandcamp.com, where you can sample their music as well. Stay updated on their facebook, http://www.facebook.com/cheatingsons

Many thanks to Cream Pictures for the use of their premises.

Fans of local indie music will be no strangers to Lunarin. The power packed trio comprises of Linda Ong on bass and vocals, guitarist Ho Kah Wye and Loo Eng Teck, drummer/pianist. Part progressive rock, accentuated with unyielding metal influences and branded with Linda's distinctive vocals, Lunarin has proved its mettle not only in its staying power, but also in carving out a niche in the scene with a definitive sound that cannot be easily mistaken. It really does not matter what you drink to Lunarin, as long as you rock out.

_Plainsunset

"We don't have a touring industry, we can't go out on the road, where you want to play? Pasir Panjang? Bukit Ho Swee?" quipped Daniel Sassoon in our panel discussion on local indie music.

Well maybe not yet, but some bands can now tick Tiong Bahru off the list.

I agree that music and as such the arts transcend borders and nationality.  And it is most certainly true that being evangelical about something is often the best way to alienate the very audience you are going after. But when I read this article, with that smugly sensational headline, I felt my inner local music mormon throw down the D24 durian she was enjoying and engage in a serious case of " Starerism".

The first Up to the Sky Indie music festival it set to debut in quite possibly the last few events to grace Old School at Mount Sophia this Saturday. Featuring an eclectic mix of local and regional acts including our very own Great Spy Experiment and Bani Haykal, the poet among the soundsmiths known as B Quartet, the festival is a tie in with the recently released SEA Absolute Indie Compilation which available now online. From straight up rock and roll to pop electronic sounds, Up to the Sky showcases and supports the best indie music the region has to offer. Don't let this opportunity fly by.

Topping off the savoury blend of sounds is Scottish Post Rock band Mogwai, who will end off the day with a DJ set. You also have a good reason to traipse around the charming Old School compounds that will be adorned by local flea market veteran Flea Fly Flo Fun's treasure trove of pre-loved items, and brought to life with screenings of arthouse music videos by acclaimed filmmakers and artists.

You can purchase tickets from their site.
Or check out the organizer Figure 8's facebook page for how you can score discounted or even free tickets to the show!

Up to the Sky Festival
3rd December 2011
Old School at Mount Sophia
11.30AM - 11PM