SATURDAY 8 | The Underdogs specialise in time travel – specifically to the much-mourned ’60s, Cambodia’s ‘Golden Era of rock ‘n’ roll’. “Everyone knows Chnam Aun Dop Pram Moi (‘I’m 16’) and Svar Rom (‘Monkey Dance’), but there are many more songs that we play that are less well known,” says lead singer Sammie. “We want to introduce young people to more obscure songs that are just as good… We search YouTube, listen to old cassettes and we talk to the old people who remember the times. The new songs copy too much; they sound just like K-Pop. We want to make a real Cambodian sound.” The songs of Ros Sereysothea and Pen Ron are now widely known, but the band also plays tunes by the Elvis/Dylan/Sinatra of Cambodia, Sinn Sisamouth, as well as the wilder singers Yol Auralong, famous for Jih Cyclo and the drunken raving blues of Syrah Syrah, and the funky soul of Voa Saroun. Long may the dogs run free!
WHO: The Underdogs
WHAT: Energetic Golden Era rock ‘n’ roll
WHERE: Equinox, Street 278
WHEN: 9pm February 8
WHY: They bark, but they don’t bite