The Melbourne hardcore punk band Jalang used to be known as Lái; they were still Lái when they released their 2020 album Pontianak. The band has been very clear about why they decided to change that name: “Jalang is one of those ‘odd’ word in Bahasa Indonesia; when applies to masculine figures — it means ‘wild, feral, undomesticated’ ; while for feminine figures it automatically translate as ‘whores // slut’ — obviously a riddiculous (:sexist) cultural fact that we want to reclaim!” That explanation should give you some idea of how Jalang operate: They want to rip apart oppressive systems, and they think long and hard about how they’re going to do it.

Jalang’s whole style is fast, revved-up, angry D-beat, and they’re great at it. Singer Alda roars in both English and Bahasa Indonesian, and her lyrics, which she’s happy to explain, draw from the long histories of colonialism in both Indonesia and Australia. Jalang are the type of band who can make sloganeering lyrics sound vital and instinctive. Their songs hit like anthems, and they make you want to get active.

They’re also relatively accessible, at least as far as rage-radiant D-beat goes. The sound on the band’s new album Santau is full and hard-hitting, and there are plenty of things in the band’s style that grab you and pull you right in: chant-along choruses, blazing guitar solos, those little breaks where the drums stop an the bass riff rings out. For this album, the band’s drummer is Sheer Mag’s Kyle Seely, a recent Melbourne transplant. We’ve already posted the self-explanatory first single “Cops N Klan,” but the whole album kicks all types of ass, and you can hear it below.

Santau is out now on Heavy Machinery Records.