that foreign music blog🌎

Hey all~ So, I hadn’t planned on going to Metrock this year, but after seeing my friend’s favorite band, King Gnu, in the line up, I decided to go with her.

The two of us arrived at the venue at around ten and I waited in line with her to get King Gnu merchandise. I can’t say that I had the usual tingle of excitement before a concert, but once the first band started their set, my legs quickly got moving. The band was upcoming indie artist, Frederic. Although, looking at the view count for their video, Odd Loop , I’m not sure I can call them INDIE anymore.

It wasn’t my first time hearing OF the band, but after getting caught up in my go!go!vanillas craze, it was difficult to try to listen to something else. So, I continued to ignore the ‘Frederic’ videos that popped up in my Youtube recommendations until finally, I was granted the opportunity to see what they’re all about.

The band is under the label A-Sketch, which is known for their promotion of quirky artists like The Oral Cigarettes and WEAVER. Although Frederic isn’t nearly as dark in appeal, they’re all a bit similar in their dance-able rhythms and interesting storytelling. As opposed to go!go!vanillas, the aforementioned bands also sound very Japanese; it took a while for me to really understand what that meant, but I did some very light research and found this old thread that addresses my question: The differences between Jrock and western rock

As someone who only LISTENS to a lot of music, I can hear what the writers in this thread are talking about in saying that the speed carries the song in Japanese rock, as opposed to the familiar bluesy rhythm of western rock. Also harkening back to my insistence of how BRITISH go!go!vanillas sound with their fusion of Irish melodies, it really made me think more about how I can even make that differentiation. Furthermore, during Frederic’s set, I mentioned to my friend how reminiscent they were of KEYTALK, who use similar melodies and rhythms in their songs. One comparison we can make is between KEYTALK’s ‘Sympathy‘ and Frederic’s ‘Sukiraism‘.

Anyway, speaking of KEYTALK, their set was actually right after Frederic’s. They played some fan favorites like ‘S.H.S.S.’, ‘Sympathy’, and ‘MONSTER DANCE’, as well as their new single ‘Bubble-Gum Magic‘, which is…..BUBBLE-GUM FUNK? There are definitely elements of funk, but it’s also really cute and poppy. It kind of reminds me of their ‘YURAMEKI SUMMER‘ era, so if you’re a fan of their album ‘HOT’, you’ll appreciate this song.

Following KEYTALK was three-girl band, SHISHAMO, which is actually the name of a fish. I had no idea until I had the mind to ask my friend what their name meant. Their band logo is also of three fish, so…it started to make sense after that. I went on to ask if ‘SHISHAMO’ sounded fashionable in Japanese, but my friend only snickered and said, “It’s like if there was a band in America named ‘Salmon’ “. I also heard from my colleague that the name brings on thoughts of an izakaya, a Japanese-style bar, which I think he was implying gave a sort of sleazy sound. SHISHAMO is anything but sleazy, however, as they’re made up of three adorable college-age girls with an innocent appeal. I wouldn’t call them ‘cutesy’, but they have that sort of ‘girl next door’ vibe. A good example of this is their song “僕に彼女ができたんだ“, which translates to ‘I became your girlfriend’. The themes of their songs tend to be kind of cute and relatable like this. What I enjoyed most about SHISHAMO’s set was their fun, fan-interactive songs like ‘Towel’, in which the fans spin their towels in the air during the chorus, as well as the sing-along portion in their new song ‘OH‘. Although the three of them looked so tiny against the backdrop of the hundreds of us in the crowd, they shone bright with their strong stage personas and undeniable musicianship, which they showcased with their separate solos.

After SHISHAMO, the two of us decided to take a break and eat some takoyaki near the New Beat Square stage. It was there that we caught a glimpse of the comedic rock group: オメでたい頭でなにより. While I’d seen them before in Shibuya, they’d garnered quite the fan base since then, as the listeners spanned out back towards the adjacent stage. Even passersby on the way to the Green Hill stage stopped for a few moments to head-bang along with everyone else. If you like Visual Kei, you’ll likely appreciate these guys and the heavy influence from both the VISUAL aspect, as well as the heavy metal/pop fusion part. Here’s their new single: The Resistance .

We stayed for the rest of their set, which ended with ‘Arigatou’, a song where they bow and sing ‘Arigatou’ to every angle of the stage. Although they seem–AND THEY ARE—quite happy- go-lucky guys, I really love how humble they are. They’d left quite the impression on my friend, too, who, being Japanese, could catch onto their jokes and wordplay a lot quicker than me.

Slowly making our way to the Green Hill stage for King Gnu, we heard the last bit of the band, Official 髭男dism, or Official HIGE DANDISM. It took my friend and I the half-day to figure out how to read their name, and then it took me even LONGER to realize that it was a pun’. SO, 男 means ‘man’ and can be read as ‘dan’ in certain combinations, but on top of that, the way they use it is a play on the English word: Dandy. SO THEIR NAME IS SOMETHING LIKE: Official Bearded-man Dandism and I just thought that was so genius. ANYWAY, they blew up pretty quickly after their single ‘Pretender‘. They’re a sentimental rock band that can be compared to Western bands from the early 2000s, noting the effect of the piano/keyboard against the strong vocals. They’ll probably sound nostalgic to the American listener, ‘Pretender’, especially, evoking memories of an old pop rock song I unfortunately can’t remember the name of.

Once the long-anticipated King Gnu started setting up their instruments, everyone began oohing and shouting the members’ names. I tensed up in preparation to get pushed and shoved, but it never happened. My friend and I had managed to get rather close to the stage, too, which had been adorned with a sign that appears in their video for ‘Slumberland‘.

King Gnu is a bit hard to describe. I wouldn’t say their sound is all that ‘new’ to Westerners, but it’s not something I’ve heard in Japan before, which might be why they became so popular so fast. They incorporate elements of hip-hop, funk, RnB, and rock. They remind me a little of Nulbarich as far as their sound goes, but King Gnu is much grittier. Their album SYMPA, for example, features intermissions that consist of a man sending an S.O.S, and the songs on the album like ‘Prayer X‘ carry dark meanings about feeling lost in life or ‘not knowing what to believe’. As a result, they have a more melancholic feeling that borders on eerie at times. Even their romantic song ‘It’s a small world‘, has an unsettling aspect to it—perhaps in the even tone of the vocals? While they’re often praised for their good-looks, all that they convey through their music is also worth noting. It’s respectable that these men are willing to address more adult themes in their songs and videos, when many Japanese artists hesitate to address the society so directly. Here’s their newest single: Hakujitsu

By the end of King Gnu’s set, the both of us were too exhausted to care much about who to see next, so we settled again by the New Beat Square and enjoyed listening to WANIMA at the Bay Field stage. WANIMA, expectedly, put on an energetic show, but what was shocking was just how many people were actively listening. Although my friend and I were at a different stage, we could see people dancing or pumping their fists to their songs—and it wasn’t in passing, they were there FOR WANIMA! While it’s true that they’re quite famous, I hadn’t expected to see that and, from where we were sitting, ultimately felt inclined to dance along with everyone else. In fact, even after we decided to migrate towards the front of the New Beat Square stage for punk band, SHANK, we got caught up in the wave of WANIMA fans when they broke out with their popular song: ‘いいから‘.

SHANK came on RIGHT after WANIMA finished, a cloud of sand rising behind us as the WANIMA-listeners scurried across the venue to the Green Hill stage for upcoming star vocal/guitarist, あいみょん. She’s a bit like a cooler YUI— not cute and flowery, but more mature with her darker imagery and husky voice. She reminds me a little of Michelle Branch. Here’s a popular song of hers: “Marigold“.

Initially, my friend and I felt a bit sorry for the sparse amount of SHANK fans, but as soon as they started their set with their popular song, “Goodnight Darling“, everyone rushed to the stage in a mosh pit. Normally I would’ve joined, but this year, mosh pits were actually prohibited—OFFICIALLY. Security even caught one fan crowd-surfing, which was somehow achieved regardless of the hundred or so of us there. My friend was particularly shocked by the burst of energy that’d come from the band and thus pulled us away from the danger, although I’d been caught up in it before. Of all the bands I’d seen that day, SHANK was refreshingly punk—I mean, they’re a punk band, but they also have the ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude that make their shows so much fun. They were a little vulgar at times, too, which was kind of nice to see after watching such classy, poised musicians like King Gnu and Official 髭男dism. It was the point of the day, however, when my friend and I discovered just how different our tastes are.

We left after SHANK, having just enough energy to make it to the shuttle buses back to Sakai station. While I admit that I’m still caught up in go!go! vanillas—ESPECIALLY WITH HOW AMAZING THEIR NEW ALBUM IS— I’m really happy I ended up going to Metrock this year. It introduced me to a lot of new music, as well as music that I hadn’t gotten around to listening to. I actually bought King Gnu’s album ‘SYMPA’ several months ago after hearing that my friend liked them, but I only just opened it. Here’s to hoping that I get around to writing about it sometime soon.