Reminder to check out One Week, One Band as my stint writing about Perfume draws to a close. Also, a reminder that I am focusing on that project this week and am just gonna blaze through this feature.
Ikimono-gakari “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”
Click the above link, and check out the bizarre voting method that site utilizes. Users rated “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” as 54 percent “happy,” 31 percent “happy” and 15 percent “relaxing.” They are sorta right…compared to the usual ballad dregs these three usually drag us down to on a monthly basis, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” really is upbeat, albeit in an annoying way come the chorus (“chu chu chu chu”). It sometimes pushes into goofier territory…the horns might be a little much…but at least this song tries to have fun (how come nobody voted for that?), which is something Ikimono-gakari tend to ignore. I am 78 percent surprised.
三代目 J Soul Brothers “Go My Way”
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZfa6As9VwE&ob=av2e”]
I really wanted to make a snarky one liner about this song (“Go My Way?” More like go away, am I right?) but J Soul Brothers’ latest isn’t bad enough to warrant such bad jokes. The opening makes it seem like “Go My Way” is going to be overblown, but when the song proper starts it’s actually a surprisingly catchy bit of twinkly pop. J Soul Brothers show their softer side, which is a lot better than the last time we saw them, beating the shit out of everything.
Dream Morning Musume, Special Medley
Smart marketing right here – the super-popular precursor to AKB48, Morning Musume dominated the late 90’s J-Pop scene. Yet all things have to come to an end, and Morning Musume brok…huh, no they didn’t? They are still going? Geez. Like AKB, Musume constantly changes members to the point they might as well be an NFL offensive line. Dream Morning Musume is, as the name hints at, a dream team of former Morning Musume members back together again to perform for whoever wants to see a mish-mash of Musume. It’s a clever idea to get some bucks out of an old idea…new thoughts, who needs them…but not clever enough to get me to listen to any of their music.
Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi “Hitotsu”
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKm9xnQyW_E”]
Seems like Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi has done a lot of charity work and appearances for the areas affected by last year’s natural disasters…so I am going to take a mulligan on judging the actual song. That said, the harmonica at the end is pretty rad.
Hey! Say! JUMP “Super Delicate”
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHy14amDllU”]
So how about that “Super Delicate?” It is bad.
Know what isn’t bad? Super VHS’ “Remember The Night,” which also has a really good video that simply uses footage from a cartoon about a penguin. The way Super VHS sequences, though, matches quite well…and makes me think the poor penguin is having an existential crisis.
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_mw6ii5xnE”]
Bonnie Pink “冷たい雨”
This is the first time I’ve ever listened to Bonnie Pink. A few good ideas and generally catchy, but also not leaving much of an impression. Meh.
Winner Of The Week – J Soul Brothers, bet you didn’t see that coming.