The Kuala Lumpur outfit arrive on April 1 with their debut single, “Do Nothing,” after nearly two years of writing, jamming, second-guessing where exactly they fit, and eventually landing on a sound that pulls equal force from hardcore impact and big, sticky hooks.
That balance sits at the center of the band from the start. Brisk were formed by people from the Malaysian underground who grew up on the kind of heavy-but-catchy records made by bands like Drug Church, Militarie Gun and Squint, and decided their own scene could use some of that same charge.
“Hardcore aggression is already fun, but if we can make it even more fun by being catchy, why not?” guitarist Aidil Rusli says. “It’s like double the catharsis!”
Photos by @_norzahir
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That idea makes more sense once you look at who is in the room. Aidil comes from two very different corners of the local scene: the long-running power pop band Couple, active since 1995, and the mathy emo band Playburst.
Even then, he already knew he did not want Brisk to be another project where he stood out front. “I’ve made up my mind in advance that I would love to just play the guitar here and sing/shout a bit of backing vocals with Brisk,” he says.
The rest of the band came together through overlapping histories in Malaysian punk and hardcore. Drummer Hafiz and bassist Edad were both known from their time in Heavside, an emotive punk band, and Boulevard, a hardcore band.
Edad then linked Aidil with guitarist Adrie from Eat Shit And Die, who turned out to be just as deep into Drug Church and Militarie Gun as everyone else. For the first six months or so, Brisk existed without a singer at all, just writing songs and trying to work out what this thing could be.
That changed when they convinced Khairil — formerly guitarist in the now-defunct skramz band Nonpareil — to step up to the mic. “Him being a huge MG and Ian Shelton fan was more than enough motivation for us all to give it a try, without having any idea if this could work out or not,” Aidil says.
You can hear that long setup in “Do Nothing.” The song is built on the exact tension Brisk were chasing: basement-show force, alt-rock catchiness, and a scruffier kind of singalong pull that owes as much to Nirvana, Everclear and Third Eye Blind as it does to current hardcore.
The band spent their time blending whatever made sense to them, from Shelter to Haywire/Skinhead to ‘90s alternative and grunge stuff like Fig Dish and Weezer, rather than forcing themselves into a cleaner category.
Aidil says the turning point came when everyone heard his demo for the vocals and lyrics. “We all kind of knew that this should definitely be our debut song because it kind of embodies the mood and attitude of the band, especially once we heard Khairil singing/shouting it.”
The title was not accidental either. “The lyrics even mirrored the casual/lazy/slacker-y way we went about forming the band and moving the band forward,” Aidil says. “It took almost 2 years since our formation (without a vocalist) to finally get around to releasing this debut single. Talk about doing nothing haha!”
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That loose, half-deadpan self-awareness gives Brisk a better entry point than the usual debut-single chest-beating. “Do Nothing” is less about staking a claim than showing how this band actually thinks: hardcore as release, melody as bait, and just enough self-mockery to stop the whole thing turning stiff.
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Now that the first song is finally out in the world, Aidil is hoping the title does not become prophecy. “Now that we’re here, let’s just hope that we’ll move our asses faster and, to quote Militarie Gun, ‘Do It Faster’!”
“Do Nothing” hits digital platforms on April 1, 2026.
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