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Blotto
Singles Collection 2004-2007 |
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Tracklist |
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01 - Delusionalism
02 - Highlight
03 - Skabetty
04 - Endroll
05 - IF A SURFER
06 - Bears |
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Review |
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Judging a Japanese band by its crazy name is like, well, judging a book by it's cover. As some sage person along the way surely told you, DON'T DO IT! "Mass of the fermenting dregs" most certainly had to have been a phrase picked at random out of some obtuse text, a name no less ridiculous and ill-advised than Hemp-Coaching Juicer, Core Milk, or Bump of Chicken. However, aside from all having somewhat food or drink-related words in their names, these bands share nothing in common, and Mass of the Fermenting Dregs would be ill-served were they relegated to the ranks of the "bands with crazy names" category of Japanese rock. If you would allow me to employ one of the many tricks of the lazy music reviewer, I would rather associate MOTFD with great bands like Number Girl or Supercar. Thus, you should now have an idea of what they sound like, right?... Oh, never mind, I'll spell it out for you: MOTFD is a technically precise juggernaut fronted by two young ladies who play super heavy, spacey and dense post-punk.
If you managed to make it through that horrible introduction, please allow me to rectify the matter. Though I realize that I'm not the first to compare Mass of the Fermenting Dregs to Number Girl, it's hard to avoid such a comparison, particularly with producer Dave Fridmann lending a hand behind the board on two tracks. While MOTFD may sound like Kim Gordon's take on NUM-HEAVYMETALLIC, this 6-song EP seemingly takes all of the best parts of the aforementioned bands without any of the excess. Bassist Miyamoto Natsuko's reverb-drenched vocals are beautiful and haunting, while she and guitarist Ishimoto Chiemi absolutely crush pavement with the relentless force of their music. Even the seemingly gentle "Skabetty" sounds urgent and vibrant, while the nine minute long "Endroll" goes from soft to loud to soft to loud again in the dreamiest and most enchanting rollercoaster you've been on in a long time. If "Highlight" and "IF A SURFER" start to sound the same when playing the EP on repeat, it's not because the songs are uninteresting or boring. Rather, MOTFD have put you in a trance and captured your soul, allowing this wonderful selection of songs to live inside of you, free and uninhibited. Rest assured, though the EP contains merely six songs, the energy and inspiration of each is concentrated to the extreme.
If I may take a trip down memory lane, I remember being a part of an exciting community of internet nerds discovering tons of amazing bands like Sparta Locals, Supercar, and Go!Go!7188 all at the same time, when all of them were fresh and at their creative prime. I remember how everyone was eagerly awaiting that first album from Zazen Boys, former Number Girl frontman Mukai Shutoku's new band. Mass of the Fermenting Dregs is the first band in a long time that has been able to recapture and channel that same youthful excitement into this here jaded dude. MOTFD is the next totally awesome band that the kids and weirdos of now and the near future will discover by chance, and follow into the new and exciting world of Japanese rock music. Concluding this review in the context of what it means to me and a bunch of non-Japanese internet nerds almost seems spurious, if not completely conceited, but if you made it this far through the review, then what the heck else would you really expect? |
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