mamat khalid’s ROCK is no almost famous. nor is it rockstar (not that it was any good) or even nasir jani’s kembara seniman jalanan. what it had was a quasi-nostalgic trip down memory lane for people like me who grew up listening to music from the 80’s rock kapak phenomenon. it had the ideas. it had its moments. it also, sadly, had bits which were downright disappointing.

the film’s premise was about four guys, with monikers which paid to tribute to the malay rockers from that era, from a kampung in perak. together, they formed rimba bara and had the hopes of winning a battle of the bands competition in taiping (the town was not mentioned but seeing the casual market and the hokkien assembly hall gave the game away). amy, the lead singer, played by que haidar, had the runs during the competition, leaving joe to handle vocal duties as well as bass duties. rimba bara’s surprising success saw amy leaving the band only to be replaced by zul kapan (shoffi jikan), singer of a rival death/black metal band, malaikat maut, which reeks of kemiyan wherever they go.

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