winners and losers (Asian Kung-Fu Generation - Wonder Future)

Asian Kung-Fu Generation
Wonder Future

why you'll love it: English song titles for convenience

why you'll hate it: bland as toast with no butter

In their heyday, I'd refer to Asian Kung-Fu Generation as "that band from that anime you like."  I'm not so sure how true that is anymore.  I don't really know what glibly refer to them as, other than "that rock band that is sometimes good."  Being neither here nor there has been this quartet's curse for ten years now.

For a long time, Asian Kung-Fu Generation might as well have been Microsoft's Clippy.  When I was getting into fringe punk and garage rock bands from Japan in the late 2000's, their simple American influenced pop-rock would not stop cropping up.    Their saturation, due to fans interested in little more than Japanese pop-culture, was frustrating to wade through.  A frustration that I unfairly took out on the band.  Even when being kind, there is nothing experimental or outstanding about Asian Kung-Fu Generation.  They essentially sound like a typical indie-emo act.  Now, this isn't exactly a terrible thing if the songs are good, which is sometimes the case.  While I still don't feel like their popularity outside of Japan is well deserved, they have put out a decent amount of solid tunes over the years.  I have to admit, for a band that colors within the lines 100% of the time, they can impress every now and then.

Even as they release their 8th album, Wonder Future, I'm having trouble understanding why a band so capable is so.... plain.  It's almost as if the group has doubled down on the plain-ness with this release.  The album art alone is devoid of their mainstay wildly floral Yusuke Nakamura artwork.  Literally nothing replaces it.  Another sure sign of mediocrity came in that they recorded at Foo Fighters' LA studio.  The same Foo Fighters that have have only put out one album over the last ten years that hasn't been tragically generic.

That big ugly arena rock mixing style is probably the most damning aspect of the album.  Everything is mixed so loudly that nothing shines.  When trying to connect with a foreign song, it's important to have a melody or riff to latch on to, or a strong vocal performance to feel the emotion.  In Wonder Future's case, it's just one big hollow sound.  A shame, because there are some good songs buried in the mess.  "Little Lennon"and "Signal on The Street" have a strong driving pace.  The power-ballad, "Eternal Sunshine" hits all the right marks.  The best song on here is unfortunately a holdover.  "Standard" has much more personality on the version recorded last year for a compilation.

The low points of this album only reiterate the band's unfortunate production choice and nagging mediocrity.  "Easter" and "Planet of The Apes" reek of bog-standard aggressive production.  An echoey mix, distorted vocals, and just too much pomp and circumstance for a simple song.  A more down to earth presentation would have made the tracks feel more personable.  Instead they sound like they were generated by an computer program labeled "loudrockmusic.exe".  "Caterpillar" and "Wonder Future" go absolutely nowhere.  They may have had a saving grace in the form of impressive drum and/or guitar work, but everything is so clumsily layered it just sounds like white noise.

Somewhere in the middle is "Opera Glasses", with its confounding structure.  Perhaps in an attempt to recapture the magic of a popular song from yesteryear, "Senseless", "Opera Glasses" completely upends itself after the first chorus into a quirky refrain.  Obviously the most experimental songwriting on the album, but it feels a little too "Frankenstien'd" together to be actually enjoyable.  And again, the mixing just isn't versatile enough to do the concept justice.

It's been almost three years since the last Asian Kung-Fu Generation album, five since the last actually good one, and seven since the last one that was generally praised by fans.  The impulsive and high energy style of their formative years landed them anime deals that indirectly drove me mad; but I think I'd prefer that today over being plain as cardboard.

"ramble til the butcher cut him down" (Hop Along - Painted Shut)

Hop Along
Painted Shut

why you'll love it: Substantial and unpredictable songwriting

why you'll hate it: Raspy vocals, tough to follow

A vice of adulthood I sometimes find hard to shake is just plain not putting up with things I don't have to do.  It's easier to just carve out my little slice of life and not deal with the rest.  This is evidenced in going to shows.  Now a days,  I just show up late to catch the headliner so i don't have to stand around and watch an opening band I statistically won't like or remember. Hop Along has been one of the very few over the last 5 years to prove my dumb habit wrong.  I saw them open for The Thermals in 2013, and was absolutely floored.

It's hard to explain without experiencing it for yourself...  They are among many indie-emo acts with a tinge of country influence.  They don't even do it "better" than most.  What kept Hop Along in my conciseness for two years was their ability to upend my expectations.  I remember thinking "I have no idea where this song is going." as Frances Quinlan croons one line, yelps the next, and whispers the third.  Songs would rev up, and halt, until finally creating that magical moment where it all clicks together.  That's Hop Along's great talent, which carries through in their latest release, Painted Shut.

Songs like "Texas Funeral" and "Waitress" crash up and down like choppy waters.  It's enough to make some listeners seasick.  There are some wonderful songs buried under all of the heaving, and discovering them is half the fun.  It's the same kind of buzz I got when Animal Collective finally clicked with me ("...wait, this mess of synthesizers and feedback is actually a pop song!").  Not all of Painted Shut isn't a puzzle waiting to be solved, though.  "The Knock" is almost entirely memorable hooks, without sacrificing any of Frances' hectic delivery.  "Powerful Man" is the upbeat and danceable song on here (ironically, as it's about witnessing child abuse).  "Sister Cites" goes for a more driven, constantly accelerating style to close things out.  It's an older tune, but a banger for sure, so it's great that it's been given a home.

The only songs that I don't feel work are the acoustic numbers.  There is no backing band to provide those dramatic builds and crescendos, or complicated layers.  A lot of what makes Hop Along stand out in the indie scene goes away with these songs. Without the band, Quinlan's abrasive delivery comes off like that of a crazy person, and not in a good way.  It's not that Hop Along doesn't know how to make a soft heartfelt song.  They just need only a little bit of power to punch through the atmosphere.  "I Saw My Twin" and "Horseshoe Crabs" are built on soft melodies.  They eventually turn into big numbers, but the ride to the moment is a pleasant build.

Painted Shut has been getting a lot of attention for all the right reasons.  You may have seen it praised on the few relevant music news and critique outlets left on the web, and you'll very likely see it again on my top ten at the end of the year.  Frances Quinlan is on the road to be one of modern music's best storytellers.  The band has had a slow start.  It's nice to see them get some recognition for their hard work.  Hopefully it sparks a more steady output of music.

"Thought I Found my black box" - (blur - The Magic Whip)

blur
The Magic Whip

why you'll love it: Vintage blur + modern Albarn chops

why you'll hate it: Won't win over any non-fans

Reunions sure are en-vouge this decade, huh?  So much that announcements are now being met with a diminished response.  After years of teasing, blur seemed to get bunched in with that tepidness when The Magic Whip started to become a reality.  In the face of nostalgia fatigue, The Magic Whip is one trip fans should certainly take.

Blur is no stranger to a crowded scene.  In the 90's, their bratty sardonic take on Great Britain's class gap was often imitated.  Blur played a big role in keeping British music relevant throughout the 90s.  Sensations like "britpop" and a rivalry with Oasis seemed drummed up by a media machine they had no interest in appeasing.  An attitude made clear at the turn of the century, with the experimentation in blur's last two albums, and the rise of Damon Albarn's (singer) collaboration, Gorillaz.

Those last few years of change made it tough to predict what kind of sound blur would go for in 2015.  I can't help but think they made the perfect decision.  The Magic Whip has the perfect mix of 90's quick witted indie-pop and the high production melodrama of their later years.  I'm a fan of Think Tank (2003), blur's divisive last album.  It was made without founding guitarist, Graham Coxon, and had plenty of Gorillaz-like electronic and dance influences.

Thankfully, Coxon's return didn't sway the band away from these songwriting ideals.  The Magic Whip is drenched in otherworldly production.  "Go Out" has a driving beat kept fresh with frayed ends coming off every strum.  On an album rife with ballads, each with a memorable gimmick, it's "My Terracotta Heart"'s underwater-like mix that makes it my favorite.  Songs like "Lonesome Street" and "I Broadcast" have a delivery straight out of Parklife (1994), but a futuristic synth punch-up.

Few pop experiments on here miss their mark.  "Ice Cream Man" has lyrics just a hair too silly.  Combined with a maudlin delivery, and goofy synth loop, the song is a boggling concoction.  All ideas that have worked well in the past for blur, but not together here.  "Thought I Was A Spaceman" has lyrics a little too on the nose, but would have been a standout on the last (and least) Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach.  Uplifting summer beach pop thrives on "Ghost Ship" and "Ong Ong".  These songs could have easily nosedived into Erlend Øye like pretentiousness, or Jimmy Buffet laziness, but blur walks that line with precision.

The Magic Whip will be a personal album of the year contender, and I'm not even a huge blur fan.  Every song just has so much character that it's a hard album to forget.  The far east notes in "Pyongyang", the blunt delivery of "There Are Too Many of Us"... Every song has something worth coming back to enough times for the whole 12 track affair (not a single one worth skipping).  Albarn's songwriting has improved so much with Gorillaz.   It's great to have it brought back home.