CD/MUSIC REVIEWS ~ STRAWBERRY SOUND
Aug 17, 2010 19:17:57 GMT -5
Post by earthfarm on Aug 17, 2010 19:17:57 GMT -5
STRAWBERRY SOUND
Released in Japan 2/19/2000
On my first day in Japan, in the (northern hemisphere) summer of '01, I bought this album. Where was my first stop on arrival in a country I'd wanted to go to for years? Bureau de Change? Seven-Eleven? Nah. Hit up HMV in Tokyo and buy this (along with Let's Knife). Priorities, people.
I didn't bring many CDs with me so I listened to this a lot over those first few weeks of my year-long stay there. It was the band's first album without Michie Nakatani and so would be missing her brand of slightly weird subject matter. But at the same time Naoko and Atsuko could experiment with new sounds and veer away from fuzzed-up punk a bit.
I like this album, although it doesn't rock as hard as Happy Hour because of all the synths used. The two 'keyboard instrumentals' could have been left out with no damage done. The artwork fits in with SK's cartoony aesthetics with the Yamano sisters depicted with big strawberries for heads (the guy who did all the artwork for the album gets his name/initials no less than nine times in the CD booklet). Possibly the most elaborate sleeve (can we still use that word anymore) design for SK thus far.
Right, onto the songs.
Side 1: Not a song, just Atsuko announcing "Side one!"
Buggy Bug: Our first taste of Atsuko on bass. Some tempo shifts in this one - slow verse and fast chorus. It's about having to kill a bug, which isn't named specifically. It's probably a stinkbug. Those things are everywhere in Japan in summer.
Wild Life: Great up-tempo track about having a frenetic (and fun) lifestyle, from the English chorus. I have no idea what the Japanese verses are about. One of the best tracks on the album!
Nya Nya: Sounds like an old-school SK track, with a lot of repetition of the title, and verses too difficult for my limited Japanese to decipher. Nice bass line in this one, with some piano in there, if I'm not mistaken.
Gokiburu: "Gokiburi" is the Japanese word for cockroach and they've turned the noun into a verb by giving it a "u" ending (typical of Japanese verbs). Anyway, this a funky sounding song with trumpet, giving it a disco-ish feel with very cool drumming. Sounds like nothing they've recorded before; could be a '70s spy movie theme song!
Super Big Black Bass: Not the first song with Black Bass in its title as all fans know. Features a great soaring guitar solo. Very atmospheric and rockin'.
CM Song: A two-minute track of keyboard blips with no real melody to it, possibly emulating background music on Japanese TV. Naoko repeats "This is a CM song" in it (CM, short for commercial media, is a Japanese term for TV advertisement).
Side 2: Not a song either. Naoko says "Side Two". Interestingly there's another take of it after the final track, where she messes it up.
Punk Rock Star: Great fast punk track. The guitar is distorted, but not high up in the mix, I guess they didn't want to thrash it too much. I could be wrong but this seems to be the only track on the album re-recorded in English. The lyrics are pretty much a direct translation.
Sesami: A catchy melody in this little pop song which is one of my favourites. The song mentions someone who is living in a very small space (as in universe), which resonated with me, living alone in a small apartment in rural Japan as I was at the time.
Kaiki Geemu: Very strange, slow song with strings and sung in a high pitch that makes it even stranger. The lyrics mention a blue moon, a white balcony, a wolf's voice, zombies, and other oddities. No chorus at all. The title means 'Strange Game'. Strong contender for weirdest Shonen Knife song ever.
Chinese Disco: Synthy-disco-sounds here that are unlike anything SK has recorded. Absolutely no guitars. A brief experimentation with a style of music they never really tackled again. Set in the '70s - perhaps one of the members went to China in the '70s and it inspired this. It's all in English, so you can sing it! There's a video for this song too.
Mosquitoes: Very sinister, dark and heavy, along the lines of "Cobra Versus Mongoose" and "Buddha's Face", with the slow rolling verses and fast chorus. The third of three insect-related songs. I think the drummer for this song is Mana Nishiura (listed as China in the credits)
Mayonnaise Addiction: A laid back bass line and guitar strumming gives this a relaxing feel. The guitars sound 712-ish. Lots of other sounds in there over its 6 minutes, it has an Eastern feel to it. Very jangly.
Synthesizer (Baburu Houkai): Another short weird synth thing that has no melody to it. "Bubble Collapse" in the title refers to Japan's economy - it's a shame the band didn't comment on it. Why did the bubble collapse? What were its after-effects? This has no lyrics, so we'll never know. Ends the album on a confusing note!
Released in Japan 2/19/2000
On my first day in Japan, in the (northern hemisphere) summer of '01, I bought this album. Where was my first stop on arrival in a country I'd wanted to go to for years? Bureau de Change? Seven-Eleven? Nah. Hit up HMV in Tokyo and buy this (along with Let's Knife). Priorities, people.
I didn't bring many CDs with me so I listened to this a lot over those first few weeks of my year-long stay there. It was the band's first album without Michie Nakatani and so would be missing her brand of slightly weird subject matter. But at the same time Naoko and Atsuko could experiment with new sounds and veer away from fuzzed-up punk a bit.
I like this album, although it doesn't rock as hard as Happy Hour because of all the synths used. The two 'keyboard instrumentals' could have been left out with no damage done. The artwork fits in with SK's cartoony aesthetics with the Yamano sisters depicted with big strawberries for heads (the guy who did all the artwork for the album gets his name/initials no less than nine times in the CD booklet). Possibly the most elaborate sleeve (can we still use that word anymore) design for SK thus far.
Right, onto the songs.
Side 1: Not a song, just Atsuko announcing "Side one!"
Buggy Bug: Our first taste of Atsuko on bass. Some tempo shifts in this one - slow verse and fast chorus. It's about having to kill a bug, which isn't named specifically. It's probably a stinkbug. Those things are everywhere in Japan in summer.
Wild Life: Great up-tempo track about having a frenetic (and fun) lifestyle, from the English chorus. I have no idea what the Japanese verses are about. One of the best tracks on the album!
Nya Nya: Sounds like an old-school SK track, with a lot of repetition of the title, and verses too difficult for my limited Japanese to decipher. Nice bass line in this one, with some piano in there, if I'm not mistaken.
Gokiburu: "Gokiburi" is the Japanese word for cockroach and they've turned the noun into a verb by giving it a "u" ending (typical of Japanese verbs). Anyway, this a funky sounding song with trumpet, giving it a disco-ish feel with very cool drumming. Sounds like nothing they've recorded before; could be a '70s spy movie theme song!
Super Big Black Bass: Not the first song with Black Bass in its title as all fans know. Features a great soaring guitar solo. Very atmospheric and rockin'.
CM Song: A two-minute track of keyboard blips with no real melody to it, possibly emulating background music on Japanese TV. Naoko repeats "This is a CM song" in it (CM, short for commercial media, is a Japanese term for TV advertisement).
Side 2: Not a song either. Naoko says "Side Two". Interestingly there's another take of it after the final track, where she messes it up.
Punk Rock Star: Great fast punk track. The guitar is distorted, but not high up in the mix, I guess they didn't want to thrash it too much. I could be wrong but this seems to be the only track on the album re-recorded in English. The lyrics are pretty much a direct translation.
Sesami: A catchy melody in this little pop song which is one of my favourites. The song mentions someone who is living in a very small space (as in universe), which resonated with me, living alone in a small apartment in rural Japan as I was at the time.
Kaiki Geemu: Very strange, slow song with strings and sung in a high pitch that makes it even stranger. The lyrics mention a blue moon, a white balcony, a wolf's voice, zombies, and other oddities. No chorus at all. The title means 'Strange Game'. Strong contender for weirdest Shonen Knife song ever.
Chinese Disco: Synthy-disco-sounds here that are unlike anything SK has recorded. Absolutely no guitars. A brief experimentation with a style of music they never really tackled again. Set in the '70s - perhaps one of the members went to China in the '70s and it inspired this. It's all in English, so you can sing it! There's a video for this song too.
Mosquitoes: Very sinister, dark and heavy, along the lines of "Cobra Versus Mongoose" and "Buddha's Face", with the slow rolling verses and fast chorus. The third of three insect-related songs. I think the drummer for this song is Mana Nishiura (listed as China in the credits)
Mayonnaise Addiction: A laid back bass line and guitar strumming gives this a relaxing feel. The guitars sound 712-ish. Lots of other sounds in there over its 6 minutes, it has an Eastern feel to it. Very jangly.
Synthesizer (Baburu Houkai): Another short weird synth thing that has no melody to it. "Bubble Collapse" in the title refers to Japan's economy - it's a shame the band didn't comment on it. Why did the bubble collapse? What were its after-effects? This has no lyrics, so we'll never know. Ends the album on a confusing note!
L to R: Michie, Atsuko & Naoko
L to R: Atsuko, Naoko & Michie
L to R: Atsuko, Naoko & Michie
L to R: Michie, Naoko & Atsuko
Well, the pic isn't very good but, I believe that it's: L to R: Michie, Atsuko (Who wore glasses offstage) & Naoko