WAKUSEI ABNORMAL

2013 PROGRESSIVE-POP/ART-POP/J-POP

Nandemonai Kyoki is the first release from Japanese pop duo Wakusei Abnormal. I don’t remember how I found this record and during cursory research I wonder how anyone has found it. The band has not so much as a Wikipedia article and just about the only reviews are the few sentence takes of random users on rateyourmusic. Even the translation of the title I pulled from a website I’ve never heard of. Google translate spat out “a weapon that is nothing”. While this rudimentary translation has many poetic implications it seems an unlikely pairing with the hyperactive pop of its contents. It is a record without inhibitions, they dance so intensely that you are certain that it’s never crossed their mind they look completely mad. But it’s not one continuous string of manic outbursts, there are plenty of tender moments that retain their theatrical nature. As you might suspect the lyrics are all in Japanese so I make no guarantees about their quality but it sure as hell sounds satisfying when the syllables fire off in sequence.

To be more straightforward they make pop that tends to bounce around to different ideas quickly with a load of instrumentation from squeaky synths to hand drums. In terms of oddness it’s about at the regular spicy level at your favorite Indian joint; enough to warm your mouth but it won’t offend the palette of polite company. 

The first track opens with a count in so fast that you are in the thick of it before you can notice what’s happening. There’s frenetic hand drums, twinkling keys and vocals whose tone slides all across the spectrum, it’s like watching a melodrama in fast forward. That’s only a fraction of the picture and yet it melds so seamlessly; explosions are happening all around but all you can think is damn this is sick. I especially love when the mix begins to melt away under distortion, the way the vocals reach down is so cool. All that only at a length of two and a half minutes. The mantra of as many good ideas in as short of a time as possible continues onto the second track. You lose count of the number of costume changes from playful innocence to sassy punk and a goddamn guitar solo makes a guest appearance. You’d be bewildered if you had the time or weren’t so delighted. I can’t overstate how catchy his album’s opening one two punch is. It’s not just a hook either, each component vital to the greater infectious whole. 

The runtime is doubled on track three but the band doesn’t lose a step. Dark piano keys that evoke campy horror make way for breathless ravings. It may be longer but we are still rounding these constant hairpin turns like the previous songs but it doesn’t get old thanks to a slow straightaway of starry eyed piano. The duo stabilize their sonic concoction for the fourth track as it is more of a singular idea that ebbs and flows. Clearly satisfying, particularly the reverbed out howl of its ending, but it’s hard to not have a preference for reckless fun that’s now in the past. Sinister organs mark a change on track number five to a somewhat more traditional sound of psychedelic prog. When the improv style percussion backed by elongated wailing comes through in the midportion it evokes thoughts of that classic seventies sound albeit a twisted take. 

Credits roll in appropriate fashion for the closer. It’s filled with the feelings of fantastical reminiscing, like a twilight flight through the echoes of love. As equally soft as it is powerful, the last ripple of its splash feels like the conclusion of a lasting journey despite it only being an EP. Nandemonai Kyoki is pure spontaneous joy. It’s a testament to its memorability that it manages to find its way into my ears almost a decade after release. To this day I find myself sneaking its tracks into playlists hoping a friend will be as enthralled as I. Hopefully have them say the words everyone on the path of musical discovery wants. “What is this wonderful noise and who the hell makes it?”.

8-9/10

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