Maison Book Girl making a play for international listeners is kind of unexpected, though fitting. They just wrapped up a tour of England, and are even signed to a new British labeled focused on Japanese music, and really if any post-BiS (version 1.0) idol group deserves that shot it’s the one with the most interesting sonic palette. “Raincoat To Atama No Nai Tori” sees no major shifts away from the junior-high-school-band-room set of instruments they lean on, but as they’ve done in recent years they make every xylophone note and woodwind count. And it pushes the intensity of their vocals up even further. And it all builds up to a solid chorus, a little more measured than some of the highlights from last year, but sticky all the same. Listen above.
