"押すとこれがどうなる?" (Polysics - What's This???)

Polysics
What's This???

why you'll love it: Off the charts wild punk rock energy
why you'll hate it: headache-inducing nonsense, too long

Seven minutes into 2016's most appropriately titled album, a single thought emerges from the ruins of my scrambled brain.  "Be careful what you wish for..."

Full disclosure, Polysics is my favorite band.  They have been for about a decade now.  One minute into one of their supercharged electro-spaz punk live sets, that decision had already been made.  Closing in on two decades now, Polysics have worshipped at the feet of their new-wave idols, carved out their own unique style, gone down the brain-busting punk route, have done the big arena sound, made some crowd pleasers,  made some insane ranting songs, dabbled in balladry, blazed on traditional instruments, and wrote songs in step with computers.   The one thing they haven't really dove headfirst into is showing off their technical chops.  It's also been a while since they've made anything that really challenges the listener.

Finally, Polysics have given us a reason to fear them once again, with a 19 track pandora's box of synthesizers, guitars, and screaming.  What's This??? will literally make you shout "What's This???"  The layering is seemingly infinite, the tempo is impossible to grasp on the first few listens, and the pace is enough to make one hyperventilate.  This album is proof of audiogenic epilepsy!

It may take a dozen spins, but the first 7 tracks do have a method to their madness.  What's This??? starts off innocently enough with a typical instrumental and lead single tracks.  They're much better than recent intro/singles, but nothing formula breaking.  "アルプスルンルン" and "Funny Attitude" busts things wide open.  "アルプスルンルン" is monster of intensity, with enough violent swings to cause motion sickness.  "Funny Attitude" suckerpunches you with one of the most sugar-coated choruses in Polysics history, delivered with a "ton of feathers" mentality.

Coming back to these first 7 songs have been a blast, not only because of how layered they are, but the pinballing of tempos stays fresh with plenty of innovation and diversity.  One of my favorite moments of the album is the moment of grace in "アルプスルンルン" that transitions not like flipping a switch, but reeling you in.  The electronic drum crunch that signifies another tempo change in "アルプスルンルン" and "Dig Down" provide that great Wile E. Coyote suspended in air moment before the violence continues.  "Dig Down" has rocketed to the top tier of my favorite Polysics songs.  It sounds like playing every videogame ever made at once... and winning!

What's This??? is no perfect work of madness, sadly.  Straight up, it's too long, even for a fan that seemingly can't get enough Polysics.  19 tracks (at just under one hour!!!) is a deliberate reference to their 19 year anniversary, but the reference doesn't justify what feels like b-side filler for a good 20 minutes of this album.  Most aren't bad songs, but just come off as weak in the company of the better tracks.  "Tempo Tempo Tempo" predictably slows down and speeds up in fun ways.  "Robot Mayim Mayim" does in fact sound like a robot mayim mayim. "Dopplerごっこ" plays with call & response.  "Flying V" is a straightforward fun song about...i think volleyball?  It would have fit in on Karate House, not What's This???  These are all ok songs, but feel too dependent on their gimmicks to capture What's This???'s most prominent aesthetic.

There's only three songs that I feel don't work at all on this 19 track behemoth of an album.  "Vow Vow" has no umph.  "春夏秋冬" is a just as irritating duet as "Kitchen Ban Ban" off 2010's Weeeeeeeeee!!!.  "1.2.3.4" has its heart in the right place, but is far too slow and predictable to hang with anything else on this album.  It's a longer and more repetitive version of "ありがとう" off 2008's We Ate The Machine.

The one thing this album needed was a sweet cooldown ballad near the end.  Sadly, "Hurry Up" is not it.  Even in the shallow selection of Polysics ballads over the years, "Hurry Up" ranks pretty low.

That may seem like a lot of gripe for an album I love dearly, but once again, this sucker is an hour long, and boy do I love half of it.  "Sun Electric" is one of the best singles they've ever made.  It's a fantastic combination of man and machine they've been fine tuning as a trio for 6 years now.  I love the guitar work on "Take Away".  I love the steamroller of sound approach to "Nail" and "Be A Human".  "299" is more proof of when Polysics wants, they can still craft that perfect blend of cutesy pop and punk rock madness.

What's This??? is the most unhinged Polysics has sounded in well over a dozen years.  For the first time since discovering their discography, they gave me that "woah, I'm not so sure I can hang with this" feeling.  I never thought I'd get it again.  This is certainly not for everyone, and that's what makes it so great!  Because of all the extra chaff, this probably won't be one of my favs of 2016, or even one of my top three Polysics albums when it's all said and done; but this feels like a proud landmark release for the band.  It's that last bit of uncharted territory for their sound, and once again sets a bar for modern punk rock lunacy.

"Trying to forget what’s in the past" (Yuck - Stranger Things)

why you'll love it: groovy slo-mo retro rock
why you'll hate it - derivative, middling to poor lyrics

Welcome to your annual check up on 20-ish years ago!  Last year, Bully took us back to the 90s with their debut, Feels Like.  This year, it's Yuck carrying the banner.  Yuck's style is a bit more sloopy shoegaze, less power-pop.  The comparisons to Dinosaur Jr. are true as math.  Max Bloom even has a J Mascis slur to his delivery on slower songs like "Hold Me Closer"

Oh yeah, let's talk about Max Bloom a bit.  Yuck had a well recived debut in 2011, followed by the singer leaving the group.  This is usally a kiss of death for most bands.  The lineup change left a mark, because all I read about from fans is how this band has fallen off a cliff with the loss of their original singer.  Stranger Things has been generally regarded as a good* release
(*but not as good as it should have been!)
Here is the funny thing, the promotions of Stranger Things has been my first exposure to Yuck, and I think it all sounds A-OK.  I even went back recently to hear this debut everyone is so wistful for, and honestly, it didn't grab me as much as this album.  I think they have an improved sound now, and the songwriting/vocals don't strike me as any worse now than they were.  The only gripe against Max Bloom I can muster is that on a couple songs ("I'm OK" especially) he sounds like Dave Grohl.  I'm not saying that sounds bad, but it's odd enough to distract me from an otherwise pretty good song.

Theories of "What you're first exposed to is what you like the most" aside, here's what's on the album - a lot of distorted guitars played at melodic pace.  "Hearts in Motion" and "Yr Face" generate some wonderfully powerful Built To Spill influenced reverberating chords.  The songwriting is probably the albums biggest downfall.  "Hold Me Closer" goes for that "Tiny Dancer" reference a bit too hard to be taken seriously.  The lyrics to "Stranger Things" is either the most dry satire I've ever heard, or sopping with enough angst to make Good Charlotte roll their eyes.  For the most part though, the music is good enough to carry where the songwriting can't get to on its own, especially on the last few tracks.

Stranger Things stands on its own even if you aren't stuck out of time, although being a big fan of the genre certainly helps.  Despite how scorned some fans may feel, it's an entirely competent and well performed release.  The riffs are creative, and they make 4+ minute songs sail right on by.  These songs are essentially from the "shoegaze bummer rock" genre, and they somehow adjust it all into a good time on Stranger Things.