Album, Rock
Holy crap, you guys. I love STRAIGHTENER. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. (Why do I consistently forget them in lists of my favorite bands? Because my mind has been on a mission to sabotage me ever since I started trying to spread the J-music love.) This self-titled album is everything that I've been wanting out of a rock album lately. Although I'm always in the mood for a truckload of kick-ass in my rock songs, I'm not always in the mood for something upbeat or angry. Unfortunately, those two emotions make up about 99% of the rock scene, so I get to suck it up and deal. STRAIGHTENER heads in that direction with this album, but not before making several interesting pit stops; the emotional texture moves in a progression from uncertainty, brooding, and desperation to bright, but not sappy, confidence. All the songs are strong and hard, but many have an atmospheric quality not commonly found in rock pieces. Best of all, the track order moves the album logically from one point to another, as though STRAIGHTENER is telling a continuing story with each song. "A LONG WAY TO NOWHERE" opens the album with a brooding sound, and "Pleiades" moves the vibe forward, going more toward the depressed end of the spectrum, but without getting whiny or pathetic. "VANDALISM -prototype-" is more upbeat, but in a quirky, slightly crazy way. "KINGMAKER" takes the crazy vibe and runs with it. "YOU and I" is almost buoyant, but with sad undertones; "LEAP IN THE DARK" moves forward the buoyant feeling but adds a touch of determination in place of the sadness; "Koori no Kuni no Byakuya" moves both emotions forward, with determination taking a more prominent role; "SILLY PARADE" moves into determination and a little anger; "CRY" sounds freer with an emotional profile that's hard to pin down; "PROLOGUE" is heavier and more confident; "Hitsuji no Mure ha Oku wo Noboru" is confident and cool. The album ends with "VANISH -prototype-" which brings back the atmospheric quality from the beginning with interesting use of synth and combines it with the confident feeling of the songs just previous to it. Because of this sublet progression, this is a great album for taking you out of a funk and making you enjoy life even when life doesn't seem that great. I highly recommend this one; it'll likely make my Top 5 of the year.
Single, Pop
Although this single isn't terribly strong as a whole, the A-side attracted my attention enough to get it an honorable mention. That A-side, "GO GiRL," has lean instrumentation (just vocals and a few layers of synth), a simple beat, and a simple melody which, rather than adding up to a boring piece of work, combine to make a fun, catchy song that will animate your limbs with its magical powers and force you to dance. Yeah, it's actually sort of creepy how good this song is. The second track, "Sunrise," is also surprisingly good - more of that lean instrumentation and back-to-basics approach to the melody and beat that are just the thing to listen to when you want to move. Although the approach doesn't work quite as well as it does in "Sunrise," it's still a fun song that's easy to listen to. Unfortunately, the other four tracks are just boring. It's like DOMINO ran out of steam but kept going anyway. "Ima" is a bland pop ballad, "BRAND NEW DAY" sounds like it was born to be a B-side (not a compliment), and "Chocolate Muffin" is actively annoying. Oh, and the final track is an instrumental. Yeah. So this definitely isn't a single to buy, but definitely listen to the A-side, even if it means having to watch the year's most heavily tutued PV.
Mini-album, Rock
LOSTAGE plays gritty indies rock, and after some of the more laid-back and poppy content of the last few weeks, it's nice to hear something harder and louder and less polished. "HELL" starts the album out like a punch in the face, and the punches keep coming from there. Unfortunately, much like one punch in the face feels about the same as any other, their heavier rock tracks are similarly unmemorable. Thankfully, it's not all unmemorable rock. "Rakuen" has an almost reggae beat during the verses, then moves to a more cerebral and languid vibe - with xylophones! - during the last half of the song; "Iu," combines sections of heavier punk-esque guitar and vocals in the verses with long wailing vocals and some acoustic in the hook for a unique performance; "NEVERLAND" is lighter in the vocals and guitar during the verses, with contrasting harshly distorted guitar in the hook. So, since it's a mini-album, that means that half the songs are memorable, and half aren't. That sure as hell doesn't sound like something I'd recommend, and I guess it's not even that I want to recommend it. Instead, "CONEXT" shows LOSTAGE's potential, and especially after listening to "Rakuen" I'm excited to see how much further they can go.
