The ‘very positive’ POD

Does today’s new noise (read: rap-metal or whatever it’s called) have to be dark, angry and pent-up? Korn mines its success on teenage angst, Linkin Park dwells on dark musings, and Limp Bizkit likes to flash a defiant middle finger to all the trash we go through every day (never mind Incubus — the band is a far cry from its Science days).

Now, here’s POD or Payable On Death with their own album, Satellite. Any newcomer that growls, rhymes, and clangs hard on guitars and drums is bound to be stereotyped as clones of new metal’s top triumvirate. But what’s this? I’m thinking of forever (missing you)/I know you’re so much better (we made it through). And this: Last day of my life/I wish I would’ve known/ Cause I didn’t kiss my mama goodbye. Is this some defect or the office stereo’s acting funny?

Nope. POD is just bringing a whole new attitude to the scene. While other bands focus on the angry and negative side of things, POD choose to be on the upside of the vibe, turning life’s downs into positive anthems that kick.

Members Sonny Sandoval (vocals), Marcos Curiel (guitar), Traa Daniels (bass), and Noah "Wuv" Bernardo (drums) were reared on close family ties and fervent religious faith (Sonny and Wuv, the core duo of the group, are US-born Filipinos). Nevertheless, they are no strangers to hardship and struggle.

POD is primarily based in Campland (also called Southtown), a desolate area outside San Diego, California and near the US-Mexico boarder where Wuv and the others witness whole families risk life and limb to get to America. The musicians themselves belong to marginal families who survive on basic necessities. In fact, in a POD feature in Spin last year, Wuv describes the area he lives in as "the ghetto" of California’s fierce underbelly.

Despite the odds and the impoverishment, Wuv says POD has always been a positive band from the start.

"No matter what people say about us, POD has been and will always be a positive band," says Wuv in a phone interview courtesy of Warner Music Philippines. "Unlike other bands, we have something to say. We don’t bring people down. Instead, we try to uplift people. That has been our aim from the start."

POD was formed more than 10 years ago when Marcos and Wuv got together in high school. Sonny was working with a different band back then, but when his mother died, Wuv, his cousin, asked him to join. The music back then was dominated by heavy metal and its various kin. Bands like Slayer, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Megadeth and Metallica were still the lords of videos and the airwaves.

"We chose Payable on Death because we wanted our name to sound tough like Slayer," Wuv shares. "Today, Payable on Death is quite appropriate for a positive band like us because we want to remind people that everything we do in life is payable on death. It’s time to look around and see the big picture: what we take for granted and what we are missing in life. There’s more to life than all the bad stuffs around and you’ll never know when your time will come. I hope people will see and make that change through our music."

Indeed, POD’s genius lies in its powerful combination of brutal rock and charged, emotional, yet positive lyrics — music that not only jolts one to stand up and listen but makes people think and internalize. POD’s Satellite, the band’s second major label album which was released — by fate — last Sept. 11, is truly worth a few hundred bucks if you want hard rockin’ music off the beaten KornLimpBizkitStaindLinkin path and full of messages, not just whining about nookies and paper cuts. It’s an album you can play at full blast without running the risk of being labeled a "Christian freak".

The opening track, Set It Off, literally rockets the CD to a thundering start thanks to Wuv’s Slayer-speed drumming. Alive, POD’s first single and first chart-topping hit, follows like a call for a celebration. The song’s soaring chorus and vocals, backdropped by riff-heavy guitar work, can be so infectious it’s a risk to hear it in the morning — you’ll end up with LSS (last song syndrome).

Another worthy listen in the album is Ridiculous, where the band fuses reggae with rap. Now, we’re heard punk bands ventured into ska or reggae and back to power chords again in a song (hello Goldfinger), but rap accompanied by laid-back reggae guitar work and uptempo drums? Sonny matches Eek-A-Mouse’s opening scat with rhymes very sleekly, but why does the song remind this writer of 311?

Either you’ll love POD or hate them at first listen. Either you’ll love them for their arrangement and hate Sonny for the lyrics. It’s really up to you, as Wuv says.

"We don’t try to impress anybody. If some find a few lines in the songs corny, it’s perfectly okay. What’s important is we made it and if it sounds good to us, we don’t care what others say," says Wuv. "We are one of the more honest bands out there and most of our lyrics are heartfelt. If people don’t see us in a lyrical level, then we invite them to meet us in a musical plane. Just dig the rhythm, man."

POD will have a promotional tour in the Philippines from Feb. 4 to 7 with a one-day concert at the Le Pavilion on Feb. 6. The concert promises to be an onslaught unlike any other, says Warner Music. POD, they proudly announce, was recently nominated for a Grammy in the Best Hard Rock Performance category.

The audience will be treated to Traa’s funk-schooled bass thumpings, Marcos’ relentless punk-inspired riffs, Wuv’s triple attack of snare, cymbals and bass, plus Sonny’s vocal pitches. The question is: Are you ready?