I mentioned a few days ago that, of all the CD’s I bought on my Tokyo record shopping trip, the one that I was most excited about was Swinging Of Eden [TOKYO STYLE], by Swinging Popsicle. There’s no mystery to that – in the year since I first discovered them, the Japanese indie pop trio have become one of my favorite bands.
One of the things I like about them is that I never know quite what I’m going to get with one of their releases — they’ve recorded everything from spiky guitar pop to retro-60’s soul to dance pop. Whatever they try, they seem to always do it well.
Running at about 35 minutes with nine tracks, Swinging Of Eden turns out to be a collection of lush, pastoral pop songs. What it really reminds me of, weirdly, is my other favorite (currently recording) band, Saint Etienne — specifically the chilly electronic soundscapes of Sound Of Water, though the bouncy retro-60’s pop of “Appleholic” would have fit perfectly on Good Humour. This isn’t a bad thing — the songs are all wonderful, catchy, low-key pop music, with dense, detailed production.
Highlights include singer Fujishima Mineoko’s cooing vocals on “Kitty’s Affair”, the aforementioned mod pop of “Appleholic”, and the mournful “Eve’s Love”. “Room Service” is built on a gently swinging electronic percussion rhythm, and features vocals by guitarist Shimada Osamu, singing a call-and-response duet with Fujishima. Four minutes in, the song unexpectedly descends into a pop-psychedelic sound collage, giving it a very Beatlesque feel (the band would do something similar five years later with the title track of their 2007 album Go On). Less successful is a cover of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows”, largely stripped down to an acoustic guitar and voice, with little attempt to recreate the lush vocal arrangements of the original. It’s grown on me a fair bit since my first listen, but it still falls far short of the amazing original.
The album is well sequenced, bookended by vaguely ambient instrumentals and featuring another instrumental, “Kona Coast” (which follows “God Only Knows” and hints at surf music itself), as its centerpiece. The songs flow easily between one another, and despite the mini-album’s relative brevity, it feels very well-rounded and complete. Well worth my ¥2100.
(Well, one review down, on my ten to go …)
