that foreign music blog🌎

Before I get your hopes up, 2 and Dizzy Sunfist did NOT do a collaboration. I’m just going to talk about their albums today.  While they’re just a few of the several I bought last month, since I’ve been hyping the two bands recently, I figured I’d write on them first.

The first album I’ll go into is 2’s “Go 2 the New World”, which I bought TODAY. Naturally, it was the first CD I listened to once I got home and, after the first playthrough, I can already name some favorites, including “Boy and Girl”.

My favorite thing about the album “Go 2 the New World” is that, despite the fact that I can’t really catch the lyrics (perhaps if I REALLY TRIED), I can still appreciate the story. Compared to their previous album, “Virgin”, this one seems to have more of a plotline, whatever it may be. It may also be the cute album art that lends it a storybook feeling. It’s an extremely fun album, both to look at and to listen to.

The album is a whole can be classified as rock ‘n roll. For a while, I was stuck on the idea that it was bluegrass that I was hearing, but it’s because their sound has such an old feeling—something you’d hear in an old fifties movie or something. On that same note, Yutaro Furutachi’s solo album had an extremely bluegrass sound and I think that’s what influenced my initial proclamation. I’m not the biggest bluegrass fan, but after being introduced to it in college, I felt that it didn’t get as much love as it should, with its dusty acoustics and great story-telling. Therefore, I try to listen for it, perhaps with too much effort. However, after 2 released their brand-new video for, “SONG FOR YOU” from their album “Go 2 the New World”, I realized that I was completely wrong. Particularly with Ryota’s guitar and the backing vocals, I found that the band was trying to express an older rock sound. I don’t really know any other artists that sound like them, so it’s a struggle to really pin their sound for you. It’s definitely not indie, nor is it bluegrass, or standard punk. Hahaha! Maybe something in between.

Whatever the genre, though, it’s a great album, and I’m excited to be able to see them twice in these coming months!

The next album is Dizzy Sunfist’s “Dreams Never End”, which was actually quite hard to get my hands on. Every time I went to get it, it was sold out! It’s no surprise, though, given the number of hits featured on it. Having only seen a few of their videos, always full of color and messages like, “The Dream Is Not Dead“, I was surprised to hear the heavy sound of the album as a whole. With their fast instrumentals, raspy vocals, and occasional screams, they can be best classified as punk. They remind me of a SHANK with female vocals—in fact, you could say that’s exactly what they sound like…now that I compare songs like “Paradise” and SHANK’s “Life Is…” Perhaps Dizzy Sunfist is a big fan!

The album has fifteen songs and honestly, I haven’t been able to choose a favorite yet.  I did get the album after hearing “Life is a Suspense“, but I’ve liked every song so far. “Genius” stands out a bit to me, though….and the ska-sound of “Paradise” is contagious. I suppose I do tend to like the faster songs–not that there are really any slow songs on the album. In any case, this is a band with notable musicianship; it’s no small feat to have all fifteen songs on an album be title-track-worthy.

My favorite thing about this album is how much energy is put into each song. The band is often photographed donning big, white smiles, and their fun personalities are apparent in each song with their “HEY!”s and “HO”s. I can only imagine how fun their concerts are!!