BANDANG SHIRLEY

Me, you and everyone we know will fall in love with Ang Bandang Shirley. This is no exaggeration. No band in recent memory has released a more lovable, more accessible album than their long-awaited debut Themesongs, an instant classic filled with 11 indie pop rock anthems. This is Broken Social Scene if they listened to the Eraserheads, a happier Jeff Buckley with Dong Abay’s street smarts, Sugarfree’s heart inside the baby of Radiohead and Feist. And yet still, this may be the most original and most sincere album of love songs we have listened to in a long time.

Shirley, composed of Owel Alvero, Selena Salang, Ean Aguila, Joe Fontanilla Jing Gaddi, Heidi Pascual, Zig Rabara, and Kathy Gener, just has a natural gift for the irresistible pop chorus. With tracks like “Themesong”, “Patintero/Habulan/Larong Kalye” and “Sa Madaling Salita,” they have introduced us to songs that have no plans on leaving our heads and our hearts anytime soon. This is why we love music.