The Pin-Up Girls are back for another close-up
I’ve often noticed that bands never actually break up in the Philippines (except for really bad blood, and even then...) Instead, life happens. People take jobs, have families, move abroad. So they put a pin in the band for a while.
Then, at some point, the pin is unstuck. I first heard The Pin-Up Girls when Mondo Castro (or someone in his circle) sent me their first CD, “Hello Pain,” early in my tour of duty here in the Philippines. That was 2001. The orange-colored album cover was provocative: a fetishized Betty Page-type model with a whip wearing a sneer, black lingerie and devil ears. The music was catchy, lifted by harmonies from Castro and Keltscross members Pamela Aquino and Jennifer “Jeng” Tan.
The album stuck in local memories, so much so that last year Rick Olivares from Eikon Records approached Castro and the rest to release it on vinyl. This has been a laser-guided mission by Olivares: to steer successful re-releases from the likes of Apo Hiking Society, Greyhoundz, Sugar Hiccup, and many others. His background in design and A&R skills means the vinyl releases are lavish, with “Hello Pain” including goodies and extras, including three acoustic songs left off the original 2001 CD. Famously recorded on a shoestring budget (in Eraserhead Raimund Marasigan’s living room), the original debut fit into the lo-fi alternative OPM scene of the time, but The Pin-Up Girls had a secret weapon: they were a band, played live a lot, they loved what they did enough that they caught the ears of Michael Sutton from US indie label Know-It-All Records. They were signed, played abroad, made their splash.
Then life happened.
Decades later, we meet Mondo and bassist Jeng—flown in from West Virginia for the gig—at ‘70s Bistro. The band is different for this album launch, naturally. Tonight it’s tag-team guitarists Adrian Arcega and Dax Balmeo, plus padawan drummer Ristalle Bautista (in her, the Force is strong).
They open the set as though dropping the needle with a strong Broken, the harmonies intact between Jeng and Mondo. They follow it with Burn and Hello Pain, punctuated by spiels and banter between the original members, then Jeng takes lead vocal on Down before a brief switch onstage to acoustic guitars.
It’s refreshing to see Castro and Jeng side by side, playing two of the unreleased cuts from “Hello Pain.” Ashes, in particular, shines with interwoven harmonies that remind me, a little, of acoustic Jesus and Mary Chain duets. It’s the spiel onstage that takes you back, as Castro talks about getting funding from Diether Ocampo for the original recording of “Hello Pain,” and how the Quark Henares/Diego Castillo video for Down teasingly convinced viewers that the band consisted of models Angela Velez, Angel Aquino, Clara Balaguer and Sandwich bassist Mylene Dizon. All night, Castro, now a Born Again Christian, is an affable if somewhat unassuming host, thanking the fans for showing up for the launch gig. There’s a fun maelstrom of interlaced fuzz and buzz from the three huddled guitarists on the lengthy Quicksilver outro, even as the rhythm section of Jeng and Ristalle maintain a tight-yet-loose groove. Onstage, The Pin-Up Girls were never meant to be the next Dream Theater, or even Greyhoundz: instead, they’re a band that seems to like exploring their songs (they play two from later Pin-Up releases, including Jackson Pollock 9 and All Seats Are Taken) in a relaxed way that shows off the underpinning melodies and back-and-forth song structures.
Our nostalgia for ‘90s and Oughts releases probably relates to the vibrant OPM scene of the time, when radio stations (NU107) relentlessly promoted local indie bands, videos were the teeth-cutting edge for Filipino directors, and club venues were full and plentiful.
Did we just grow up? Olivares, who announces the vinyl release of “Hello Pain” has already sold out its run, tells me he’s working on a new album of material with the Pin-Ups (“It’s a shoegaze concept album”), noting the band’s new songs will point to their life experiences, how they feel about where they are now. There’s life left yet in this throwback indie OPM band. You can put a pin in that.