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Four unique bands share one floor at Endangered Species Vol. 2
THE key word for Endangered Species Vol. 2 is intimate.
Returning to Petai Belalang KL, the second edition once again placed its performers and audience on the same floor without any physical barrier between them. Even the building’s lifts were working this time, sparing everyone the long climb that became an unofficial part of Vol 1.
The Baby Cosmos assembled another strong bill for its independent showcase. Relative newcomers Women & Children opened the night before the hosts took over, followed by established local acts Teh Tarik Senja and Golden Mammoth.
Dreamy introduction
Women & Children opened Endangered Species Vol. 2 with a dreamy set that moved confidently between gentle passages and louder bursts of guitar.
The band describes its music as “sonic pop”, although listeners have also placed it under dream pop, indie pop and shoegaze. Those labels made sense during Fleeting Feeling, Glimpses of the Now and Biru, where airy vocals floated above ambient keyboards and treated guitars.
With only two released songs, Women & Children already sounds ready for a larger body of work. Its upcoming five-track EP Lock It draws from vocalist and bassist Maira Zamri’s personal diary entries. Keyboardist Safa Azul is producing most of it with guitarist Azim Zain, with its release planned for the end of the year.
The band closed with I Feel Better When I’m Dancing, an appropriate choice for an audience that had spent much of the set moving along with them.
Hosts take control
The Baby Cosmos followed with the confidence expected from a band running its own event. Beginning with Reset and Rewind, the hosts delivered originals including new release In Absence, I’ll Be Fine, the unreleased Religion and fan favourite Dream in Colour.
Its covers supplied some of the set’s biggest reactions. The Smiths’s This Charming Man brought familiar jangling guitars before the band moved into the Cocteau Twins favourites Heaven or Las Vegas and Iceblink Luck.
“It kept the same energy from Vol. 1. Every band came prepared with a banger set,” said The Baby Cosmos’s Darrel Jacques.
With August packed with competing gigs, Jacques said the crowd at Vol. 2 brought plenty of enthusiasm.
Harder movement
Teh Tarik Senja supplied the night’s Malay-language alternative rock, combining lively guitar lines with songs made for small rooms and active audiences.
Teka Teki and Sesi Bersua drew people closer, while unreleased songs Hari Kembar and Kaki Bulbasaur kept the set unpredictable. The hardest dancing and moshing of the night happened here, with the band responding by playing even harder.
The four-piece comprises vocalist and guitarist Cahaya Shafri, backing vocalist and lead guitarist Haziq Hamzi, bassist Rafael Muhammad and drummer Amill Danish who came dressed in banana costume.
Vocalist and guitarist Cahaya, better known as Chay, said playing for unfamiliar listeners made the performance especially memorable.
“Usually when it comes to these small gigs, you can almost pinpoint the same few faces who will be at two or three different gigs. But last night, we couldn’t spot any familiar faces. The audience were total strangers who we got to perform for the first time, such a grounding experience for us,” he said.
Psychedelic finale
Golden Mammoth ended Endangered Species Vol. 2 with a swirl of funk, psychedelia, colourful lighting and muscular musicianship. Lap of Luxury, Holy War and Beralih filled the venue with thick grooves.
The band continued through Ominous, Apologetics and Nostalgia before running beyond the scheduled midnight finish. Golden Mammoth then added Places as an encore, giving Vol. 2 the unruly conclusion it needed.
“It was really intimate. People pulled up to see us play songs that we haven’t played in a while so we really had fun with that. Oftentimes, you play repeat setlists because you wanna sound tight on stage, but this show was about re-exploring our love for some of our lesser-played material,” said vocalist and lead guitarist Syabil Alyahya.
Attendee Wong Ai Ping, who also attended Vol. 1, described this edition as softer and more intimate.
“This sort of hideaways in really big cities and stuff is where you find the community a bit better and easier.
“So, although it is 14 flights up the stairs, I think it’s worth it for the people,” said Wong.
Endangered Species Vol. 2 was a fun continuation of The Baby Cosmos’s independent showcase. Its greatest strength remained the closeness between musicians and listeners, turning Petai Belalang KL into a shared space instead of a stage facing a room.
The Baby Cosmos plans one more show this year, with Jacques promising something different from the first two volumes.
