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New Post Modern Team: Nite Life Lounge EP

Kansai outfit Post Modern Team’s first song made available to the world’s ears was a little ditty called “Never Let You Down.” It was one of 2012’s finest tracks, a breezy song featuring one of the sweetest hooks to come out of Japan’s indie-pop scene – “never let you down,” they sang, like whispering into a lover’s ear. It was such a sentimental start – and a high peak – that it has gotten hard to remember nearly everything that has come after has bit a lot sadder. Despite sounding upbeat as heck, “Heartbreak” was still about heartbreak, while cuts like “She Does Something To Me” were about unrequited love. Now comes a new EP on Ano(t)raks called Nite Life Lounge, and it might be the outfit’s most bummer-worthy set of songs yet. It also is another example of how good these guys are with just some guitars and drums.

All three tracks here are as simple as everything else Post Modern Team have done before, but they’ve proven that’s not a bad thing and simple repetition can heighten the emotions at stake. The title track sets the scene in a disco, and the main character is having “good times” but something happens where said protagonist needs to make a decision – set against surprisingly dramatic playing from the group. How it ends, we don’t know, but it sure sounds good. The other two songs are a bit more outright about their moods – “Fade Away,” the band’s best stab at shoegaze yet, features the line “thinking about those high school days” and it becomes pretty clear it’s a track about thinking about good times…”before you fade away,” which adds an ominous touch to the song. “Betterdays” is pretty clear from the titles, but the music itself is the closest Post Modern Team come to new sonic territory, as it features a build-up towards something, even if the conclusion isn’t anything huge (plus, the vocals sound like the dude from Built To Spill). Get it here or listen below.

New Post Modern Team: Nite Life Lounge EP

関西のPost Modern Teamによる初のリリース曲は“Never Let You Down”でした。2012年にリリースされた最も優れた曲のうちの1つと言えるでしょう。爽やかで甘いメロディーは日本のインディー・ポップ・シーンに衝撃をもたらしたのでは。彼らは“never let you down”と恋人に囁くように歌います。センチメンタルに始まるこの曲はその後の展開をより切なく響かせています。まさに“Heartbreak”や“She Does Something To Me”といった言葉が語るように。最近ではEP、Nite Life LoungeがAno(t)raksから発表されました!彼らがギターとドラムというシンプルな構成だけで美しい世界観を持つ優れた楽曲を奏でています。収録されている全3曲はPost Modern Teamが今までやってきた事と変わりはないのですが、シンプルな繰り返しの多い曲がいかに感情を強く表現出来るか証明してくれました。タイトル・トラックでは主人公がディスコで“good times”を過ごしているのですが、曲中で決断の時があったり。このドラマチックさはグループ史上でも異例なのでは。他の2曲はもっとストレートに感情を表現しています。“Fade Away”はシューゲイザー調の曲。“thinking about those high school days”や”before you fade away”といった文脈からは良い思い出を振り返っているのだなと感じさせられます。 “Betterdays”はタイトル通りの内容なのですが、曲の積み重なって行くような展開はPost Modern Teamの新しい一面と言えるのでは。(ボーカルがBuilt To Spillに似ているのも印象的でした。) ダウンロードはこちらから。視聴は以下から。