Dara Puspita 1966-1968

Dara Puspita – 1966-1968
Reviewed by Sadie O., 12/3/10
AWESOME girl group from Indonesia in the sixties – garage, pop, pscyh, chick rock. (Dara Puspita means Flower Girls – it’s not a name, BTW.) The liner notes are rather gobsmacking – although they were just teenagers (and Thailand wasn’t exactly all about women’s lib in the 60’s) they defied the Sukarno regime’s anti-Western ban, risking jail or worse. They played their own instruments, and did damn good garage pop. Inspiring and thoroughly delicious – play it all!
1. 2:01 *** Pip Pip Yeah
uptempo, high spirited romp with a smidge of “Drive My Car”
2. 2:11 ** Musafir Cinta (The Love Traveler)
kinda midtempo, pretty harmonies, sorta surfy
3. 3:08 *** Pantai Pataya (Pataya Beach)
midtempo pony (although you can frug to it too), seems to be a cover of Bony Moronie (which is by Ritchie Valens – I didn’t know that!)
4. 1:59 **** Pesta Pak Lurah (Mr. Lurah's Party)
bitchen ass – kinda Beatles-early-psychedelic, kinda screamy. Yay!
5. 2:03 **** Bertamasja (On Vacation)
great, driving 60’s psych garage. Fantastic! Fuzzy!
6. 2:14 ** Puyaili (Thai Folk Song)
midtempo, upbeat garage – is this really Thai folk? I dunno…
7. 2:13 ** A Go Go
upbeat go-go jerk (you can do the swim, too…)
8. 2:26 *** Pusdi
downtempo (by comparison), sort of a cover of Lucille, sorta not.
9. 1:38 **** Semua Gembira (All Happy)
midtempo stomp, great raw vocals.
10. 2:09 ** Ibu (Mother)
midtempo, sweet folky ballad.
11. 2:55 *** Mabuk Laut (Sea Sick)
uptempo surfer stomp instrumental with inexplicable whooshes. Fades out 30 seconds early and comes back with a scream. Yeeeps!
12. 2:34 *** Soal Asmara (About Love)
midtempo pop. Cute and bubbly, but with a fuzz guitar solo.
13. 3:04 ** Aku Pergi (I Go)
midtempo 4/4 pop march.
14. 2:02 ** Rudi
bouncy uptempo pop
15. 1:56 **** Hallo, Kawan (Hello, Friend)
uptempo surfy garage with a sort of quacking chorus.
16. 2:20 * Lagu Rindu (The Longing Song)
sugar-sweet midtempo pop
17. 2:19 *** Believe Me
stomp and twang – sung in English!
18. 3:11 ***** Hai Kasih (Hi Love)
downtempo and quite dramatic, crunchy bass. Nice! Goes all psychedelic, too!
19. 2:50 ** Tanak Airku (My Homeland)
midtempo – bad sound quality, cover of “Glad All Over”.
20. 2:31 ** Mengapa (Why?)
downtempo pretty pop with lots of bass and offkey guitar solo. Some fascinating vocals, though.
21. 2:03 *** Pinokio (Pinnochio)
surfer stomp – like a beginner Ventures with chick singers.
22. 1:44 ** Lihat Adikku (See My Little Sister)
midtempo pop, solo vocals.
23. 2:27 ** Ali Baba
midtempo but rather relaxed pop, just a bit of twang.
24. 2:03 *** Rantiku
drum solo intro, solo vocals way up front in the mix, (lots of whoops and squeaks, sort of a cover of Susie Q.
25. 3:22 ** Mari-Mari (Come On-Come On)
midtempo pop
26. 2:33 *** Kerja Kami (Our Work)
slow and quite sincere sounding.