Blowin’ In: I Saw You Yesterday’s Malibu EP

Serving as a nice continuation of that Cairo post from yesterday, here comes Ano(t)raks latest release from Tokyo’s I Saw You Yesterday, the four-song Malibu EP. It’s a zippy set of feedback-tinged indie-pop, featuring half-submerged vocals and some nice moments of release to counteract the melancholy hanging over some of these songs (see “Daisy,” a song featuring the lyric “Our time is up” repeated over and over, but featuring a joyful little “woo” before hitting a guitar solo). It’s tempting to start looking at groups such as I Saw You Yesterday, Cairo and Pictured Resort, and start thinking “is there a trend here?” — an immediate brake-pumper is Ano(t)raks has been releasing this sort of indie-pop for their entire existence — but rather, I like to see it right now as similar outfits choosing an alternative. Whereas the last few years have seen bands spring up and try to hook themselves to the now full-steam-ahead “rock bands are back” train, groups like I Saw You Yesterday opt to avoid all that fuss (there’s a whole ‘nother article waiting to be written about their opting to sing in English…the easiest way to create distance between your outfit and the Japanese mainstream). I’m happy alternatives as catchy as Malibu exist. Get it here, or listen below.