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Pop Shuvit is finally launching their third studio album, Freakshow Vol 1: Tales of the Travelling Tunes, tomorrow, Wednesday 16th April 2008, at 3pm in Hard Rock Cafe Kuala Lumpur. It’s FREE for all ages so head on down if you don’t have an exam to pass or a meeting to attend.

Even if you can’t make it to the launch and pose for pictures with them, you should still go to the nearest record store to get the new album. Simply because I think every Malaysian music lover should listen to it and maybe feel a little proud of our homegrown talents.

Despite not being a hip hop fan, I think the album is something to rave about because here’s the thing - 10 out of 13 tracks feature high profile collaborations with hip hop stalwarts around the world, which is a unique and rather ambitious attempt to take it to the next level (and add international flavour too). And with seven years of experience behind them, you can say that they have matured, and their talent is displayed in their impressive songwriting.

This brings me to highlight the very perceptible layer of consistency despite recording with many influential players like Dandee of Silksounds, DJ Cheapshot of Fort Minor, Inspectah Deck of Wu Tang Clan, raggaeton extaordinaire Nitro & Fanta, and Big Pooh from Little Brother among others. That is something to be proud of, don’t you think?

Freakshow Vol. 1 offers glimpses into old and new material that allow older fans to look at them in a new way while attracting new fans who were probably never quite drawn to their old rapcore style.

So here’s a track by track rundown of the album from a person who doesn’t know hip hop. I am doing it mainly because there is not a lot of information about the album in its entirety. So maybe this will give some of you a little idea of how talented these guys are, if you have never heard of their music.

The album starts off with an old track, All I Got, which was first heard in Amped & Dangerous (released only in Japan) and features Def Jam Japan’s Dabo. The musical input in this collab is pretty amazing – though sounding like many predictable hip hop songs, I have to admit that if you listen closely and repeatedly, you will agree it is a fine production. And that old hit kinda leads the way to today’s big hitter, Freakshow, which is aided by the amusing piano riffs and the falsettos. It is definitely one of the more adventurous tracks that took a gamble and yet manage to rip the mainstream charts.

Holding it down with some ol’ skool rappin is All That Glitters, a smooth track that teams up with American MCs Big Pooh, L.E.G.A.C.Y. and Cesar Comanche. It has a nice rhythm and sounds good lyrically. Another one that is sure to heat up the dancefloor is Rockera which features Latin reggaeton kids, Nitro & Fanta. Of course, anything Latin is sure to sound sexy and this one is really grooving tight.

Roshan of K Town Clan also attempts reggaeton in Reggaeton Asiano with Indonesian reggae ambassador, Ras Muhamad. K Town Clan is a rising star that has emerged from winning the Astro’s “Blast Off” talent search in 2005 and it is good to see one of them breaking grounds with veterans Pop Shuvit, although there is something about reggaeton done in Malay that I don’t and will never get, but never mind.. it still has an amusing “rentak” and “irama”, good enough to “joget” lah..

The sixth track is Pop Shuvit and Kartel collide, they say. Pump Up The Stereo is given a new polish in this remixed version by Joe Flizzow, DJ Cheapshot and Vin Skully. They certainly made it sound different from the rock-heavy original, which was released earlier in Amped & Dangerous.

Other older tracks from the Japan release that made it to Freakshow Vol. 1 are Block Party and Old Skool Rocka Jam, both non-collaboration tracks that sees Pop Shuvit displaying their old rap-rock flavour, although Old Skool Rocka Jam is a brilliant rework of Old Skool Rocka which originally sounded more metal and Rage Against the Machine-influenced.

The highest point in the album has got to be the Inspectah Deck collaboration on Piece of the Pie. Carting in a Wu Tang Clan member would have already earned them the highest nod of approval. But hype aside, all songs are essentially composed by Pop Shuvit themselves so all respect and credit noted where it is due. Life and its haters make up the lyrics, and the track has many mind-blowing layers – rocking basslines, impressive organ and guitar riffs, some funky drums. Overall, it boasts some very creative rock elements fused with tight hip hop rhythm. Quite a cinematic experience because of its interesting texture, I’d even say.

You have to take a long and deep breath after that because next comes something that is totally fresh and entirely in Malay from Pop Shuvit – the incredibly popular hit, Mara Bahaya, which was the theme song of last year’s film on drifting, Impak Maksima, Malaysia’s own Fast and Furious (or not). Mara Bahaya sounds nothing like what they have done before so give it a listen if you haven’t already. No matter what critics might say (some like it some don’t), it really shows the band’s versatility as musicians.

Aside from Jump, Pop Shuvit is best remembered for Skaters’ Anthem, one of the chart-topping hits off their debut album, Take It & Shuvit. The infamous hit makes a re-appearance on Freakshow Vol. 1 with Canada’s Urban Camper MC, Vandal, in Anthem Revisited. Interestingly, the mosh-pit original is reinvented with a more relaxed but no less fascinating bluesy undertone. It is about time they exploit their funk roots – because before Pop Shuvit, Rudy, AJ and JD were once in a jazz/funk band called Watered Down.

The final track, Suara Kaki Lima (Pavement’s voice?) features Ahli Fiqir, and is not actually a new track but a collaboration that had already received air plays in 2006 and was performed in the Forces of Nature concert that same year. Not really my cup of tea simply because I didn’t feel offered anything unique aside that it is the only (I think) Pop Shuvit collaboration ever to be done fully in Malay.

So there you have it, all 13 tracks. What trips my fancy may not excite you the same way, so go take a listen to the album (and listen carefully) and form your own opinion of it. You can sample the audio here or you can buy the album.

Pop Shuvit has won many accolades in the past but has somehow been flying under the local radar. This album will pop the charts and put them in the mainstream limelight that they deserve. Let’s hope they win some awards at the next AIM 2008.

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