The Singles Jukebox

In which Gesu no Kiwami Otome don’t quite clear the bar they previously set (though few songs here can)…

[Video][Website]
[6.62]

Alfred Soto: This crew loves jamming: there are more time changes, unexpected instrumental runs (that piano!), and harmonies than I’ve heard since last year’s glorious “Watashi Igai Watashi ja Nai no.” This one boasts a frantic polysyllabic rush over synths reminiscent of prime Stereolab and a distorted guitar solo worthy of early Roxy Music. In short, this act continues to resist categorization.
[7]

Iain Mew: This lacks quite the same element of surprise as last time, but makes up for it by being just as overflowing while fitting in its tricks a little more smoothly. The threatened and half-enacted rock-out gives a slightly harder edge to begin with too, although they abandon it for rhythms swaying like they’re at sea and extraterrestrial transmission solos, because they’re just that kind of band.
[7]

Leonel Manzanares de la Rosa: It’s brilliant how this song never leaves its 4/4 time signature, yet still feels like the proggiest, most mathematic show of instrumental strengths. The main riff with the heavy guitar is quite powerful, and the piano-driven breakdown in the second verse is superb, and although there’s no big, heart-melting chorus (like in previous singles), the vibrant arrangements and the killer bass lines still astound me. 
[7]

Thomas Inskeep: Perky piano-based pop/rock, now with 200% more King Crimson influence. Those guitars! This is what prog-pop should sound like but pretty much never does. 
[8]

Micha Cavaseno: I wanna believe that these folks can balance their need for the prog with the songwriting chops, but they just did not provide that here.
[4]

Patrick St. Michel: Japanese rock bands climb up the national ladder all the time, but Gesu No Kiwami Otome’s catapult up last year was different, and not just because they achieved it through YouTube in a country where the music industry remains hesitant of the site. Gesu gleefully let their songs zip off in all sorts of directions, dropping in classical piano interludes and sudden jazz-bass workouts into otherwise serviceable pop songs. The main verses and chorus of “Ryouseibai de Ii ja Nai” are good but nothing special (well, unless you like reading into lyrics, as a song about “two guilty parties” mirrors current events weirdly well), but when Gesu split off into wonky instrumental bridges or let the female vocals overpower the song, it gets memorable and highlights just what makes them stand out.
[7]

Brad Shoup: When they bear down, it’s great. Otherwise, I have no taste for their pop-emo vocal construction, or the funk bass, or the demonstration piano. But I have to give it up for the drummer: even if the hi-hat seems sloppy, she sounds like she’s playing twin kits.
[6]

Will Adams: “Each successive second sounds like it’ll be the one where the song just careens off the rails and into a ditch, making merely listening a captivating experience,” I wrote last time. That I could say essentially the same for “Ryouseibai de Ii ja Nai” (though the tempo has calmed down a bit) is either a positive or negative. I’m feeling generous today.
[7]