PLUS-TECH SQUEEZE BOX
2000 SHIBUYA-KEI/PICO-POP
FAKEVOX is the debut album from Japanese electronic fiends Plus-Tech Squeeze Box. I discovered Plus-Tech after a stint of listening to the wackier side of late 90s early 2000s Japanese pop tunes such as Cornelius. The ensuing digging led me to Plus-Tech, and with a name like that how could anyone resist. Right off the bat the genres may seem a bit confusing, Shibuya-kei doesn’t exactly have a lot of context clues. Literally it means “Shibuya style”, Shibuya being a once hip section of Tokyo in the 90s. Essentially it’s a mix of indie-pop and rock with a big fistful of sampling while leaning into pop stylings of the 60s and 70s with a tendency towards jazz and orchestral pop. Not gonna lie it can get eclectic, or the often maligned word, kitsch. Plus-Tech is wackier than most with a cartoonish freneticism and a preference for synthetic instrumentation.
FAKEVOX is fun, scratch that, a lot of fun and wholly underappreciated with just about all the songs on it having sub 10k listens on Spotify, it could use some shine. It opens with a series of samples to evoke the sound of flipping through TV channels before settling on what could only be a kids show with its goofy lightheartedness. As you are skipping through those fields suddenly the earth quakes and the sky falls in utter chaos for early RISER. A maximalist jam with an addictive guitar riff. This song has so many phases, all of them working in unison to create pure manic pleasure. The short cutesy lulls with femme vocals that start glitching to signal the return of action, the sudden rising big band style horns, the jabbing repetition of the word stop, the execution is top notch. An animated sun rises on A Day in the Radio, an adorable j-pop jaunt. All the vocals are in English, with a heavy accent naturally, and it’s very charming. I adore how plastic is said in such a way that it also sounds like plus-tech.
This is then used liberally on Test Room; reaching that oh so desired place of controlled chaos as all the sounds bounce off the walls with childish exuberance. The repeated vocals provide an ounce of consistency in the madness of tripping synths, and skipping samples, despite its uninhibited nature it gels magnificently. A more restrained approach is taken with surprise on a track named rocket coaster, a simple and breezy pop tune with some nice harmonized vocals, it’s nice but doesn’t inject refined excitement into your brain like the previous ones. Naturally from the rocket coaster we go to space with ✩ which sounds like a leisurely drive through rainbow road. All the usual players are there, the cosmic synths, reverbed out vocal samples, and twinkling stars. White drops is a succinct combination of lounge jazz and the mildest inclinations of the band. It’s good but still feels iffy, after the mind-bending delirium of the fist half it feels a bit like sitting in a bath where the water is just warm enough to not be uncomfortable.
The run of easygoing tracks continues on MILK TEA. a more enjoyable cool down than the last with deep sloshy synths and the cutesy accompaniment you should come to expect. I find the vocals especially endearing but the guitar solo three quarters of the way through that goes over so poorly, it stands awkwardly in the track like a kid at their middle school dance. After a particularly intriguing interlude track that’s part rockabilly part playground noises we get Sneaker Song. A start stop affair that’s more along the lines of their maximalist stuff. The tandem of the guitar and low bit bleeps are terrific, songs like this are where Plus-Tec really light up the synapses. The closer is clover, a lo-fi lazy river through stardust. Of course pleasant and glides the passengers to a smooth stop, a perfect bow tied on top and goodbye for this album. FAKEVOX is a hidden gem that deserves more attention. Is it a lost masterpiece that’s revelation is enlightening the music listening masses? No, but it’s one of a kind technicolor dreamscape and a really good time, you don’t need more than that.
8/10
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