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Japan
| Watusi Zombie - We Are The World!!! |
| Watusi
Zombie are an Osaka band who are a bit difficult to pin down. I don't
mean the band themselves, that's easy enough: formed in Nara in 1999 by
friends who had met two years earlier, first album in 2002, not
including a couple of demo cassettes. In terms of their attack, they've
definitely got a garage vibe going, and vocalist Jugemu Tanimura's
throat has the gravelly, spastic goods. But there's an expansiveness in
the band's latest effort, We Are The World!!!, that adds something not
usually found in bands of the garage ilk: unpredictability. I mean musical unpredictability, of course; while it's more or less required for garage bands to be out of control during their live sets, the music is generally defined by rather rigid parameters. Watusi Zombie, however, have no problem throwing in all sorts of insanity, whether it be conceptual, instrumental, or just something weird coming out of odd places in the mix. The garage rock spine keeps the proceedings grounded, but just barely. Bands like this always need energy to burn if they wanna matter, but Watusi Zombie have just as much chaos happening inside their skulls. Tanimura's voice, sincere as it often seems, just isn't made for seriousness, which suits the anarchy of the album just fine. Opener "Back To A Home" is clearly intended to be rap rock, but there's something that doesn't quite fit. The refrain is so weirdly awkward, the mix so clumsily dumb that it borders on parody…or at least a strong influence from metal semi-jokesters Maximum The Hormone. "そうなんです!" ("So Nan Desu!," i.e. a politely shouted "Yeah!") channels Brainiac in its Devo meets spazz rock energy. Intriguingly, closer examination reveals there's things happening under the hood that bear more than a passing resemblance to recent Boris in its heavy guitar meets electronic frosting approach. There's a healthy shot of Boris-aping stoner rock in "Now!"…even the guitar tone sounds like Wata, and the riff has an ascending clod rock trudge that fits in the space somewhere between that band's Heavy Rocks and Smile. Which is not to imply that "Now!" is a rip off, or "homage," or whatever, but there are times when (discounting the very different vocals,) We Are The World!!!'s warped electronics, expanding sonic headspace, and duh-hey volume seems like a punkier cousin to Boris' eclectic Smile album (the Japanese version, at least.) This, is should be said, is not only a good thing, but may hit the spot for those who didn't quite cotton to the other band's exploratory efforts. That said, Boris certainly never did anything as explicitly bratty as "21世紀の精神正常者" ("Nijuichi Seki No Seishin Seijou Sha," i.e. "The Spirit Of 21st Century Success,") which takes an amped up blues shuffle and pours rocket fuel down its throat. I said it before, but it bears repeating: Watusi Zombie are, above all, a garage rock band, albeit one with considerably more dynamics than the vast majority of their peers. That they can fit so much inside what is normally such a narrow genre, without ever really leaving it, is truly remarkable. |