A lot of the aspiring rock acts today grew up listening to the pinoy sound of the early to mid 90s, which is why it is no surprise that a lot of them flow in the same vein as that of Yano, Eraserheads, Rivermaya and such prominent bands of that era. Join The Club is one such band. They have enough amount of scrappiness and melodic know-how to come up with songs that feel as though they were ripped off a page of the 90’s “tunog kalye” sound.

The dominantly sepia pictures on the CD cover are done artistically and then given a blurred effect to give the record a dramatic and romanticized feel-- good move since the packaging of the album complements the general feel of the songs inside.

The first half of their debut album Nobela is a slow burn. We find pretty decent tunes here, but none of them truly stand out to shine. There isn’t much variety as far as theme is concerned since all of the songs play around with matters of the heart. The band seems to write its words well though, meaning the lyrics and deliveries don’t feel forced and compromised. What these first six songs or so do prove that Join The Club has the penchant for making nifty tunes, it’s only a matter of taking the artistry a notch higher.

The one song on this album that is a manifestation of the band’s potential is the title track, Nobela. The song turns up right in the middle of the record and is a sugary sweet as they come – like something that would come off a Sugarfree record. Vocalist Biboy Renia even sounds like Ebe Dancel on this track, as opposed to the usually Rico Blanco-ish performance that he delivers throughout the album. This track is a keeper, and a sign that Join The Club has the potential to give the top bands in the business a run for their money.

Perfectly befitting the title of their debut – Nobela is just like a well structured story: It’s a slowly developing experience up until the middle, where it then peaks at its climax, and then releases steam as it concludes. Join The Club still has a raw and safe sound and they have a lot of space to push themselves further. They have the right tools, being good musicians and decent songwriters, and making it big in this business is just a matter of using these tools the right way.