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Blotto
Singles Collection 2004-2007 |
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Tracklist |
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01 - 近距離恋愛 (Kinkyori Renai)
02 - 雨上がり アスファルト 新しい靴で (Ameagari Asphalt Atarashii Kutsu de)
03 - Ska
04 - Shangri-La
05 - Parade
06 - 雪が降らない街 (Yuki ga Furanai Machi de)
07 - Lullaby Countdown
08 - Fatな彼 (Fat na Kare)
09 - ランランラン (Ranranran)
10 - 映画と雨降りの朝 (Eiga to Amefuri no Asa)
11 - ひとりたび (Hitori Tabi) |
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Review |
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The career arc of GO!GO!7188 is the perfect rock band story. They started out like everyone in the fabled indie herd and moved up and up, peaking with a golden era of creative and commercial productivity. Finally and unfortunately, the band must descend back down into the depths, rehashing their old material with only a spark here or there to provide real inspiration. If it sounds like I'm being a bit harsh on GO!GO! then you've got me dead to rights. It's a bit unfortunate when a fan's expectations become unfair but nevertheless, GO!GO!'s latest album Parade is pretty disappointing in view of their history. Admittedly, the album isn't half bad but when placed next to the rest of their catalog it does come off as a lesser product, fan bias or not.
Context is an extremely important concept in a band's career as they get up there in years. It may not be entirely just, but expectations always rise alongside success. More often than not, the first sign of a misstep is taken much more harshly. GO!GO!7188 were first a band with serious promise on their debut, Dasoku Hokou; then a growing and maturing bear cub of girly surf punk on Gyotaku; next they showed a sense of serious history by tackling a cover album Tora no Ana; they then melded all their influences perfectly on Tategami, a force of nigh-unstoppable rock and roll perfection; and most recently on Ryuuzetsuran they began to show a few aging wrinkles by relying on old tricks. The most impressive fact is that all of these albums were each released just a year apart, covering 2000 to 2004. There were additionally plenty of singles and b-sides to fill in the mere months between each release. Besides these major releases there have also been: three solo albums, one by guitarist/lead-vocalist Yuu and two by bassist/lyricist Akko; two live albums; and lastly Yuu's side-project Chirinuruwowaka which filled the two-year gap between Ryuuzetsuran and Parade. With all of these quality releases, I would have no qualms in declaring front-woman and main songwriter Yuu a treasure and musical genius. The mind-boggling range of musical ideas that Yuu has produced, not just in GO!GO!'s original surf-punk style, are all but impossible to cover. The relentless dedication to songwriting and the uncommonly consistent standard of quality is exactly what turns a GO!GO! fan into a fanatic.
Because of this long history of success, every new piece of music the band produces will be put to a harsh test. 2004's Ryuuzetsuran was where the band first started slipping up and it was widely criticized as a result. Two years on, that album is still a bit weak but more decent than we thought at the time. "Parade" suffers from a similar case but where Ryuuzetsuran had a few obvious stand-out tracks like "青い亀裂 (Aoi Kiretsu)," "東京 (Tokyo)," and "Violetの空 (Violet no Sora)" that forced their way into the band's list of classics, Parade has none (except for "Ska" perhaps which sounds refreshingly like some of their earliest work). Despite this, Parade is a much better album as a whole simply because even if there aren't any truly great songs, there are very few truly bad "filler" songs.
All the characteristics of great GO!GO! material are here; it's just that the quality is spread thin across the entire record. Parade is sprinkled with some great individual parts: the catchy vocal harmonies on "ランランラン (Ranranran)" and "雨上がりアスファルト 新しい靴で (Ameagari Asphalt Atarashii Kutsu de)," "雪が降らない街 (Yuki ga Furanai Machi)" has some excellent guitar/drum interplay, and the title track "Parade" offers an extended workout that doesn't seem too long even though it is the band's longest song to date. The random pluses aren't enough to sustain the entire sinking ship though. Akko's wild bass and Yuu's frantic-yet-precise guitar-work have both gone noticeably missing, and the individual output just doesn't seem up to the task. Listening to Parade, it sounds like much of the fiery spirit that made the band's name has left the band stranded and overly reliant on hooky choruses and mid-tempo rock. I could see "Fatな彼 (Fat na Kare)" working well as filler in the middle of GO!GO!'s previous albums (and even filler for GO!GO! normally includes some reason to get excited) but here it is just one among many.
The loss of true greatness is still not enough to justify any accusations that the band of resting on their laurels. It's obvious that Yuu still hasn't quite given up; each and every song includes inspired guitar riffage but she seems to be struggling to find new ideas (and who can blame her after coming up with so many classics). We knew that trouble was a-brewing in 2005 when Yuu formed Chirinuruwowaka but I'm sincerely glad that the band has not called it quits yet. There may be some drama inside the band (or not) but even a lackluster release for GO!GO! is excellent by many other band's terms. Just consider songs like "Ska," "Parade," "映画と雨降りの朝 (Eiga to Amefuri no Asa)," and "Shangri-La" and it becomes silly to out and out hate Parade. It's true that the album does little to stem the downfall of the band's career trajectory but it is still very worthy of a listen. |
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