Table of Contents
- Push-pull pot- what the hell is it?
- Who is PushPullPot?
- 2023 album breakdown – 生き抜いたその先へ (Live on!)
- My reflections
- Check out more PushPullPot! ♫
Push-pull pot- what the hell is it?
Before we get into the band itself, I have to inform non-guitar nerds like myself that a ‘push-pull pot’ is an actual thing. Yeah, I know. Here I thought this might’ve just been another ‘I just want to be different’ kind of band name, but when researching the band, guitar parts came up in the results!
In short, a push-pull pot is a way to control the volume and tone with a switch. Rather than drilling holes into your electric guitar to change the coil, you can just use this push-pull pot or push-push pot to toggle between sounds and effects. The difference between them is simply that you push and pull a push-pull pot, whereas you push a push-push pot to change the sound.
This is an extremely surface level explanation that may not even be entirely correct, so here is a link to the video I referenced: Humbucker Soup.
Who is PushPullPot?
Picture taken from pushpullpot official website
This four-piece group from Kanazawa mixes old punk elements like choral chants and heartfelt screams with playful rhythms of the modern age. When doing a quick play through of their highest ranking tracks on Apple Music, I was reminded of bands like NOFX, Hi-Standard, KUZIRA, and Kobore.
If you’re just getting into J-rock, this is the kind of rock music that you can often find young alternative teens jamming to. It’s loud, emotional, but also fun. It has an underground vibe that we millennials would’ve associated bands like Taking Back Sunday, Senses Fail, and Silverstein with back in the day.
The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Taiki Yamaguchi, guitarist Takuya Kuwabara, bassist Kazunori Horiuchi, and drummer Ryuutarou Myoujin. They started in 2017 and have since played around 120 shows according to their official website! They claim their band concept is ‘close bonds/friendship’, which you can easily sense from their playful pictures.
2023 album breakdown – 生き抜いたその先へ (Live on!)
★ I had a hard time translating this. 生き抜く/いきぬく or (ee-kee noo-koo) means ‘survived’ or ‘live through’, and 先へ/さきへ or (sah-kee eh) means to go on, beyond, or advance forward. Knowing that, you can piece together that the album title is referring to overcoming past hardships.
- バカやろう (Asshole)
A fun punk song that harkens back to 90s garage bands screaming into microphones. The song follows the theme of standing up to The Man/societal expectations to do what you want. Looking more closely at the lyrics, the title might actually be a play on words. The slang ‘ばかやろう’ / ‘bah-kah-yah-rou’ does mean ‘asshole’, but the final lyrics read ‘let’s be idiots’, or ばかをやろう’/ ‘bah-kah wo yah-rou’. I thought that was pretty clever. Even though the meaning technically doesn’t change that much, it expresses how to society they might seem like assholes for being selfish and following their hearts. Those same people might also be criticizing them by calling them idiots.’
- 君が好き (I like you)
A sweet, upbeat love song that has a rhythm that mimics skipping happily down the road. The lyrics talk about someone being hopelessly in love with their partner, saying ‘どうしよもないくらい君が好き’/ ‘dou-shi-you moh nah-ee koo-rah-ee kee-mee gah ski’, which means something like ‘I like you so much I don’t know what to do/there’s nothing I can do about it’. There’s also a cute line in the chorus that reads: “同じとこにできたシワを合わせ” / oh-nah-jee toh-koh nee deh-kee-tah she-wah wo ah-wah-seh’ which means, “let’s line up the wrinkles that have formed in the same places”. I think this is referring to growing old and sharing experiences. - Dear My Friend
It’s a bittersweet mellow rock song about childhood friendships fizzling out. The speaker starts off a bit melancholy as he looks through his old yearbook, then expresses bitterness towards his old friend for not reaching out after all this time. However, it ends with the speaker saying not to forget about him, even if they never meet again. - 不安定少年 (Unstable Boy)
A heavier rock song with lyrics reflecting on an unstable relationship. The ‘Unstable Boy’ is the speaker who is struggling to manage his partner’s hot-and-cold behavior. He talks about how the very thing that drew him to his partner is ultimately what’s pulling them apart, and that he regrets holding on for so long.
- 緑色の自転車 (Green Bicycle)
This song has a kind of gentle, summery vibe, calling on thoughts of nostalgic bike rides with your childhood friends. However, the lyrics are actually talking about the speaker’s close relationship with the bike itself. It ends on a sweet line of: “I have a feeling we can go anywhere.”
- 少年少女 (Boys and Girls)
It’s a upbeat punk song calling for girls and boys to look forward (前を向け!). 前を向けて/まえをむけて/mah-eh wo moo-keh-te or 前向きに/まえむきに/mah-eh-moo-kee translate directly as ‘look ahead’ or ‘face forward’. However, the nuance is ‘be positive’ or ‘be optimistic’. The lyrics of “Boys and Girls” touch on the shared indifference of Japanese youth towards their future. While most young people feel negatively about the future because of the current climate of things, this indifference, I think, is referring to how youth in Japan feel their future has already been decided for them. This results in many young people rejecting their dreams for the safe, expected route. However, the lyrics ask ‘you can say it’s ‘whatever’, but is that really okay??’ - 生きていけ (Live On)
Similar to ‘Boys and Girls’, this song again calls out for the listeners to be more proactive about their lives. In the second verse, the lyrics refer to the album title with the line: ‘一歩踏み出した君へ「死ぬまで生き抜いて」/ee-ppo foo-mee-dah-she-tah kee-mee eh shee-noo mah-deh ee-kee-noo-ee-teh. This could translate to something like: “To you, who has taken a step forward “Live until you die”. I honestly had to use Google for this one, but it made sense in the context of the lyrics.
My reflections
As I listened to the album several times, I found myself enjoying the darker tone and progressive rock elements of “Unstable Boy” the most. The general rhythm and Taiki’s vocal delivery is also probably the most varied in that song, making for an interesting listening experience. However, considering the title and theme of instability, the unique groove was likely intentional to express the speaker’s emotional rollercoaster.
All in all, the album is a solid hard rock album with the typical themes of staying true to yourself and ‘seizing the day’. Especially in these times when everything seems bleak, it’s a nice reminder that we do still have some control over our outlook on life.
Check out more PushPullPot! ♫
Learn about upcoming singles, albums, concerts, and tours through their social media channels!
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