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Blotto
Singles Collection 2004-2007 |
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Tracklist |
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01-Western Girls
02-Pull The TRIGGER!
03-Flap Up Elephant
04-Fo-Fo
05-Tube Tune
06-My Generation
07-Sit At Cow Char Nail
08-The Best House |
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Review |
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Japan seems to have an endless ability to produce novelty acts, and America seems to have a similarly limitless appetite for Japanese novelties. Pistol Valve may be an all-girl brass band with a violin and a DJ, and almost certainly have a very well-paid stylist. But they're dealing with a market already plenty saturated with oddly-dressed Japanese women playing unusual instruments and styles of music. Fortunately, Pistol Valve have the talent to do interesting things with their setup.
The presence of a DJ opens up a lot of possibilities fro Pistol Valve, and Tsunamic Girls from Tokyo, does a good job of experimenting with those possibilities. Some tracks put the horns at the front, creating mostly instrumental tracks that use vocals and samples only as accents. Other tracks are hip-hop, and use the brass as part of the backbeat. Others sample in guitars to make pop rock numbers. Although Pistol Valve seems to be more comfortable on the tracks that stick to traditional brass sounds, they cover this mixture of genres with ease. And while there's definitely a trend towards upbeat, nonsensical fun on this album—"Fo-Fo" probably being the most upbeat and nonsensical entry—there's also a number of laid-back tracks, like "Pull the Trigger!" and "Tube Tune", that are just as enjoyable. The only real disappointment on the album is the cover of "My Generation"; it's mostly just a sloppy impression with extra horns and noise thrown in over the main riff.
Pistol Valve show a lot of promise; what remains to be seen is how this talent gets developed. There are a lot of fun tracks on Tsunamic Girls From Tokyo, but it still feels very much like a freshman effort. Here's hoping their next US album gives us something that builds musically on what they've established here, and not just a new set of outfits. |
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