Listening to Sugar-Free's album "Sa Wakas" and their single "Telepono". As witness to influences from the genius of Rivermaya's Rico Blanco (runs the tracks and back up vox), Ebe Dancel and the rest of SF can rock, jazz and soar. His guitar and his vocals can whine, heckle, taunt and croon -- though tempered -- and can have enough self-respect to sing these lyrics:

"I could be all alone in this pathetic little world I have. I could be crying out, see if candies do exist in worlds I don't know."

While Dancel's words and singing in some of the tracks can easily be replaced by Cookie Chua (and sometimes Mike Hanapol), there is a sublime sense of pop here, most noticeable in the candid drumming, the drinking song that is "Taguan", and the slight overdose of D minor. In "Insomya" they add some big guitar droning and harmonics that tell you they were just as much into the Beatles and Pavement as much as they were listening to Skid Row. Then, there is the scary realization that this much talent in a debut album has not been seen last since The Eraserheads. In fact, if you didn't know better, you thought it was Ely Buendia fronting.

"Sa Wakas" revels in it's providence (thus the album title, and the grunting turtle on the cover), having taken 2 years to make, with Blanco producing about 70% of the album before having to step aside and take care of his own band. "Hintay" sounds like Blanco had strings on Sugar Free and wished Bamboo was back on the driver's seat. "Sa Wakas" turns out to be a surprising collage and the tracks are obviously plucked from a larger cache of original work. In fact, the album's age works out nicely, but someone would have had time to work on the lyrics, and didn't.

But perhaps most amazing is that Ebe Dancel is NOT a musician by training -- he is a dentist. I can however argue that his talent comes from his high school background, which he namechecks in the liner notes, somewhere below thanking Jesus Christ and the Mother Mary: UPRHS batch 93. Reprazent!

In "Los Banos" Dancel stumbles to capture emotions that I for one can relate to. It isn't easy to rewrite Buklod's "Kanlungan":

"But it's always you I run home to. Take me back, take me home away from here, back to where I am free."

Needless to say, Sugar Free can use a little Splenda. But that's quite fine. I can like that.