It’s not the best idea, being ‘hopeful’. Other words that may help you further understand this word include the following- anticipative, expectant, delusional.

You know, those who breathe optimism and positivity. These very same people, teeter on the edge of insanity, and/or suicide. Or become kindergarten teachers. In which case, read previous sentence.

Those who aren’t, on the flipside, experience more of those oh-that-was-nice-I-didn’t-expect-that moments. Moments that you and I, dear fellow hopeful, hunger for despairingly. Yet here we are, seated comfortably, pigeon-on-shoulder, feet dangling off high building, cursing the word and its founder.

3 dash 1, they call themselves. We could fill in the dash for them easily. Maybe I’m still bitter over the deceiving CD cover. The – yes, you guessed it – psychedelic jungle of rainbows, clouds and green, green grass. And so the spark of hope was born. And extinguished hurriedly a minute later, in short, too much was harboured for this punk-rock outlet’s first album, June’s Lucky Bunch.

Champion of the inauguralThe Straits Times School of Rock competition held in 2005, this 3-man boy band comprises of lead vocalist and guitarist, Muhd Ashik Sokhaimee, 20, bassist and backup vocalist, Andhika, 20, and drummer Mohammed Nashir Ayub, 21.

In an interview with MM e-zine, which is under the band’s management, Music & Movement (S) Pte Ltd, the band talked about their most attractive feature as a musical unit: their originality.

“Basically we perform to original tracks written by Ashik; he was a finalist in the Northwest CDC Song-writing Competition. To date, we have a repertoire of about 17 originals that range from pop punk tunes to jazz, emo and rock.”

They also added that 2 of their most well-received songs in the 10-track album were “If You’re Gone” and “My Crush”. Allow me to grace you with the lyrics of this favourite song, “My Crush”.

“I think I have a crush on you, cause every time you’re far I’m blue”. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is deep, bordering on 6 feet beneath the ocean floor. And no, we’re not yet done.

“Can I get your name? and maybe your number?/I’ll take all the chance to see you sometime/ I’ll treat you to lunch, with your choice of movie then I’ll send you home tonight.” No, no, honey. I’ll send YOU home tonight, tomorrow and forever plus 5 years.

If only there was a School of Rock here in Singapore that would teach them that clashing of instruments and the absurdly predictable swell, 2/3 into a song doesn’t equate to music, rather it sounds more like a musical mismatch, or how mutton generally doesn’t go well with fish.

Now, I’m all for supporting local music but – oh wait, I’m sorry, did I say local music? I meant vocal music. Ashik doesn’t sing. Instead, he’s decided to talk through the songs. Oh well, perhaps its better this way. I don’t want to find out how his voice sounds in g minor.

I’m built hard. I can totally not flinch watching feisty Roy Orbison and his distractingly tasseled sleeves confidently perform his legendary growl on his iconic hit “Oh, Pretty Woman”. But majority of June’s Lucky Bunch sent my face into cramping fits. Hello wrinkles.

However, there lies a shiny little saving grace in the mechanics of “Rainbow Connection”. The fourth track begins misleadingly mellow, then very swiftly escalates into a catchy tune complete with punchy beats. Quite pleasantly distinctive from the other somewhat banal, clichéd numbers, it manages to melt poppy elements into the punk-ish mix with great success.

Credit must, however reluctantly, be given to this ambitious trio. It’s clear they’ve put in effort into cutting this album and penning their own songs, especially since they admitted that they took nearly a year to cut the album. Guess June’s bunch, ain’t so lucky, this time round.

Rating: 2/5