Japan's
history of "copy bands" is not as mindlessly imitative as the term
suggests…it's a different beast than the retro/throwback bands of the
West. Yes, the bands pick one era/style/idea and stick with it, and
those bands tend to stick with each other, but there's more to the
phenomenon than that. Whereas in the West, retro styled bands often get
trapped in their chosen idiom, in Japan, the copy band culture is so
vibrant and lacking in cynicism that a genuinely creative musical
energy often emerges, resulting in some seriously kick ass rock 'n'
roll that just so happens to fit snugly in a subgenre that has its
heyday a couple of decades before the band's members were born. Think
less Brian Setzer, more Stone Roses: taking damn near all their cues
from the past, but attacking them in a fresh way that bypasses any
accusations of fanboy worship.
Enter The Psychrons (well, OK, it's probably supposed to be
"Psyclones," but give 'em some slack.) Yep, they're a Mod band. Yes,
they've got the
clothes, the haircuts, the attitude, the gear, and pretty much
everything else you'd think of. But not so fast: where retro bands
would cling to their chosen idiom like a life saver, never coloring
outside the lines and fetishizing the style down to a few broad
signifiers, The Psychrons get into the headspace, breathe the same air
as their artistic forebears, and create an authentically new music, one
which plays by the aforementioned rules, but is still clearly a product
of now. Their fifth album, On A Voyage, is simply a great psych pop
album, and the Peter Max rip of the cover is simply where they're at.
Stale retro this ain't.
The guitar of opener "嘘つきイエイエ" ("Usotsuki Ie Ie," i.e. "Liar No No")
may directly quote The Creation's "Makin' Time," but if the riff didn't
announce itself at the beginning of the track, you might not catch it.
The song is more of a disassembled power pop than red with purple
flashes, and the vocals actually recall Japan's own 90s power pop retro
hounds Dexide The Eamons more than any assortment of moptops. ”悪いいたずら"
("Warui Itazura," i.e. "The Bad Trick") owes as much to 90s indie rock
as it does to, say, "House Of The Rising Sun," which is the comparison
I came up with after wracking my brain for a few minutes (the chord
changes are similar.) Point is, the signifiers, the obligatory jangles,
chimes, and head shakes, are thoroughly digested and seamlessly
integrated, resulting in music that doesn't copy the 60s so much as use
them as a launching pad.
Admittedly, the seams start to show towards the back end of the disc.
"ハロー、グッバイ、エブリデイ" ("Hello, Goodbye, Everyday") could stand to back off
the "Purple Haze" rip a bit, and "銀色のグラス" ("Ginro No Glass," i.e.
"Silver Glass") does seem to be slapped together from spare parts
ganked from the Kinks' dumpster (although to be fair, it's listed as a
cover...although I have to plead ignorance of who they're covering, as
the liner notes give no indication.) But they're fun in their own way,
and well, better a rousing rip off than a failed experiment.
Now, not every copy band avoids the pitfalls of the style, and there is
some life in the criticism that The Psychrons could stand to step away
from the fuzz pedal from time to time. But those moments are few and
far between, and who knows: maybe one day, they'll shed their pinstripe
flares and shake off the past completely. Better yet, maybe they'll
strengthen the bridge between the past and present, taking the jangle,
shake and pop of then and giving it full membership in the now.
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Available from Amazon Japan
