The Melbourne band Jalang makes absolutely furious hardcore punk — crusty D-beat anthems that are both supremely angry and supremely fun. Frontwoman Alda screams demonically in both English and Malay, and she puts so much force into her delivery that you can’t always tell which language is which without the help of a lyric sheet. There’s a lot of great protest-minded punk coming out of Australia lately, and Jalang are right up at the top of the heap.

Until recently, Jalang went by the name Lái, and they released a grimy and ferocious album called Pontianak last year. As No Echo points out, Jalang just announced their name change, using it as a sort of reclamation. (“Jalang” is a Malay word that roughly translates to “bitch.”) This year, Sheer Mag guitarist Kyle Seely joined the band as their new drummer. Next month, Jalang will follow Pontianak with a new album called Santau, which features 10 new songs and a cover of Crucifix’s 1983 song “Indochina.” The album’s first single “Cops N Klan” is an absolute ripper.

“Cops N Klan” is a feverish stomper about pushing back against the forces of oppression. On Jalang’s Bandcamp page, Alda writes:

The song opened with Omnibus Law protesters chanting “Polisi Anjing, Polisi Anjing, Polisi Anjing” — sounds that honestly send me straight back home. It is our/Indonesian version of “Fuck The Police” (literal translation would say “Police are Dogs” except we say “anjing” all the time as you would use the word “fuck”. It’s a versatile swear word).

Police Department in Indonesia started from being guards of the Dutch Colony’s “treasures” (loots) back in 1867. Then when Japanese colonise Indonesia, the Politie formed by the Dutch Colony then works under the Japanese official known as Sidhokan.

On a similar note; in Australia people talk about the problem being that so many of the white Australians are descendant from convicts, but ignore the real problem of just how many of them are descendants from British prison guards and military police…

How can we expect something that is made to protect the colonizer and maintain their power, to ever do anything to protect us the people? It is an illusion, and at best a cruel joke that we all are familiar with.

She’s also written a lot more about the history of racist policing in Australia, and you can read it here. Check out “Cops N Klan” below.

Santau is out 7/23 on Heavy Machinery Records.