Bloodthirsty Butchers' "Bloodthirsty Butchers"

Artist: Bloodthirsty Butchers (Japan)

Album: Bloodthirsty Butchers (1990)

My God!

No updates since October 2nd?

Shame, Anna, shame.

To be fair, I lost my iPod, was focusing on my art, developed Carpal Tunnel syndrome and just forgot.

So, on with the show.

Bloodthirsty Butchers... I can't even imagine how hard they will try to be edgy.

Well, before making judgments, let's try out track one.

She's Break? Wow, spectacular English there.

And I'm surprised. They don't sound hardcore at all.

Oh my, the vocals. (It seems I always say that.)

Bad.

The instruments sound like an early Green Day album, but the vocals sound like one of those talentless punk singers of the 80s.

How unpleasant.

It's fairly bland, but maybe they have promise. Maybe. Doubt it, though.

Track two is I'm On Fire.

That would explain your singing, then! (buh-dum-chh)

If you couldn't tell, that was an attempt at humor. And a rimshot.

Well, the vocals are equally intolerable. Not much of a surprise.

Not to mention it's all so terribly boring.

Drop Out is the next track. I'm already beginning to feel lucky there are only 8 tracks.

Oh, look at this, look at this.

I took a quick peek at their Wikipedia page and apparently they are a "long-running legendary indie-rock and punk-rock band" and are "known for their distinct instrumental styles".

Apparently.

Not seeing much of that so far. Not seeing why they're legends, either. But, to be fair, pretty much all of the punk genre is crap.

Drop Out isn't as bad. "As bad" being key here.

I'm Blue has slightly better instruments, and even better vocals. I'd have to say this is the best so far, as much as that pains me. It's close to being listenable.

Regardless, it all is just so drab.

Silencer really just blends in with the others. Other than I'm Blue, this all kind of sounds like one long, boring, neverending song.

Earlier today, I tried the Ganzfeld effect, where you take away your sense of sight and hearing for several hours. I had a splitting headache and felt like I was about to snap. This is beginning to feel similar to that.

I swear to God, Six O'Clock AM starts off exactly like another song on this album. This is becoming tiresome.

His voice is frustrating me more and more as it goes on. Either he's getting worse or I'm losing my mind.

They really aren't painfully bad or anything and I know I'm probably giving that impression. This album just lacks any originality and effort.

Moving on.

Your Sad Story is just... ugh.

Is it even possible to tell these apart from each other?

Clash! Sky! is the final track. After this I can go back to listening to music that doesn't melt your brain with its complete disregard for uniqueness. Thank God.

Well, it's over 7 minutes and the singing is just terrible.

You know, fuck it. Rating.

2 out of 5.

Legends my ass. Good for a new band playing at local clubs, but critical acclaim? Totally undeserving.

Blankey Jet City's "Red Guitar and the Truth"

Artist: Blankey Jet City (Japan)
Album: Red Guitar and the Truth (1991)

You will have to pardon my lack of cursing in this review. I'm afraid I'm at school.
Oh hell with it. My teacher doesn't pay attention much anyway. Let's begin.

I'll admit it, I don't have much faith in this one. Blankey Jet City? They're a Japanese band from the early 90s, right? Retch.

Well, Track one is Cat Was Dead. Oh. Okay. So it sounds interesting? What is this? Huh. Peculiar. It has the same faux-fifties sound that Black Cats were going for, except it isn't... a failure? It sounds modern and interesting?
Oh wait. The vocals. I forgot. They're.... annoying. For most of these Japanese bands the vocals tend to ruin everything. I have no idea why, either. No, I am not biased towards Japanaese music. (cough)
The second he starts singing, it really goes downhill. Which is a shame because the guitars are absolutely fantastic. I mean fantastic. I'm actually angry at the vocalist right now. I could cuss my ass off right now, but--

Boku no Kokoro wo Torimodosu Tame ni... Again, the music itself is just great. I suppose the vocals aren't as obnoxious here. They're tolerable. They sound a little like Ryuichi from Luna Sea. Maybe. I don't know. The chorus just sounds so Luna Sea-esque. Hell, so is the guitar solo.

Track three is Mune ga Koware Sou. Here's hoping for the best.
At this point, the vocalist just needs to redeem himself and I'll be a-okay. But something in me doubts that will happen.
Sigh. What a loss.
Okay. I have something positive to say: this isn't the worst thing to come from this blog. Right? Right. Moving on.

Furyou Shounen no Uta...
At first... I was going to bitch about the vocals again. But you know what? I actually like them in this. Yeah, I said it. I said something positive for once.
I can't turn it up very loud, but from what I hear I rather like it.
I... like... it... ???
Dare I say it, this band has a pretty neat sound.

Track five is Texas. Well, I'm already relieved to hear it has no southern influences.
Either I'm becoming more tolerant or I didn't listen close enough, but the vocals aren't quite as bad as I thought. Either way, I was wrong, so fuck me.
Pretty cool solo, though.
If only it weren't so painfully... 90s Japan.

I must be confusing the poor reader. Oh, who am I kidding, who reads this anyhow?

Track six is Kouen. I really do love their oldies style. Refreshing, that's what it is.
Maybe I'll give this a better listen when I'm at home, because I really do like it despite all my complaints. Right now I just can't hear over some people talking to really listen to it in its entirety.

Now the singing in Gaadoreeru ni Suwari Nagara really sounds like Ryuichi. Take that as a good thing or a bad thing, because I'm undecided.
In fact, the vocals sound a lot like some vocalist in Free-Will at the time... In fact, were Blankey Jet City part of Free-Will?
Nnnnno, they were not. Toshiba and Polydor, apparently. And no, I don't know the vocalist or any of his work. I'm probably just going mad.

I think sometime I'll check out their other work. I just know that the vocals didn't change, but I feel that they have some serious potential. No, no, no, wait. They are good. There are things I would change, though.

I've listened to Ate no Nai Sekai and alas, have no lasting opinions.

Kurutta Asahi... Just... sigh. Oh well. It blends together with the rest of it. Yawn.

The last track is Mother. It better be good. Partly because class is almost over (yay, one period left), and because I feel I wasn't sufficiently wowed by Blankey Jet City.
I've noticed that the rockibilly aspect has been lost completely. The past couple songs have, I mean. And I miss it. This just sounds like a lot of punk bands. In the 90s. In Japan. Killer combination. But not really.
I'm not biased, I swear.

3 out of 5.
Sorry, you guys. You're good, just not good enough.

Black Shelter's "Awake/Nobody's Perfect"

Artist: Black Shelter (Japan)
Album: Awake/Nobody’s Perfect (2007)

Alrighty, short review here.

Um, starts out with Awake. I honestly think I downloaded this about three years ago when I was still listening to ~*~J-ROCK~*~.
So, without a doubt, it’s godawful. I can say that with confidence. Well, the majority of the damn genre is awful, so—
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I’m pretty sure this is just “J-Rock”, not Visual-Kei. It has that boring-as-vanilla alternative sound rather than… well, the horrible V-Kei sound.
And yes, it has a female vocalist, which makes them SO SO UNIQUE!!!!

Nobody’s Perfect begins with….
“Nobody’s Perfect yeeahahh Nobody’s Perfect, its okay, don’t worry”.
God, just fucking kill me now. I would’ve eaten this up three years ago, but nowadays I just feel like gagging myself whenever I hear music like this.

Track three is (kanji)shii Hito. For the record, I think the kanji is “Ito”, which would make the title “Itoshii Hito”. Which translates to “The Most God Damn Cliché Song Title in Existence”.
There’s just really nothing to say. It’s so mediocre, it actually makes me angry.

Okay, okay, last song. I told you this was short.
This is Brave Girl. It sounds like it’s trying too hard to be edgy or dark or something. Good luck with that. While you attempt to do that, I’ll be over here wiping my computer of all traces of Black Shelter.

1 out of 5.
Just don’t even bother.

Black Cats' "Cream Soda Presents"

Artist: Black Cats (Japan)
Album: Cream Soda Presents (1981)

So, is it safe to assume that this is going to be some sort of faux-fifties band? I guess we’ll see. That could either be very good or very bad. It could be the next Stray Cats, or something godawful.

Well, Love Story sounds like a very cheesy, older bubblegum pop song. It’s pretty much one of the lamer songs I’ve heard in a while. Not really a huge fan of it, although the guitars are nice.

Kanashiki Teddy Boy is track two and holy shit I already like it better.
The guitars are fantastic, the bass is just excellent, but I’m not sure how to feel about the vocals. In fact, I really don’t like the vocals at all. They really just don’t fit well, and it kind of ruins it for me. The music itself is very fun, just the singing… it’s awfully annoying.

I’m counting on Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie to change my opinions.
Oh god, no. No, no, no, no. Those vocals are some of the worst I have ever heard. They really don’t work at all and they actually make me want to rage.
I don’t know, someone else might feel differently, but I think they’re intolerable, and I have a very high tolerance for bad singers (as I’ve said before). They kind of make everything fall apart. It sounds like a bastardization of rockabilly; a humiliation to the fifties. Well, not that bad, but close.

Ano Musume no Fanii Feisu… Well, his vocals are better, I guess. It still sounds like a failure to imitate Elvis or something, but hey, I’ll take anything. The song itself isn’t much special, though. There are so many other rockabilly-revival bands that are miles ahead of these guys, why even bother.
The background singer is substantially worse than the lead. I mean, he is just terrible. He sounds like fucking Dynamite Tommy from Color, my lord. And being compared to Tommy is basically like saying, “You’re a talentless singer, get the hell out”.
Even Color fans know that Tommy has one of the worst voices in major music history.
Oh, back to Black Cats. Yeah, they’re as bad as Color.

Cover Girl…. Ughhhhhh. They’re really pushing this 50s thing on me, aren’t they? That’s something we call, “Trying too hard”. I mean, I know that a lot of 50s music really did sound similar to this, but… Christ, try to make it enjoyable to a younger generation, too. Stray Cats really succeeded in that.
This is just so damn boring, though.
Not as bad, just yawn worthy.

I thought that track six, When, would be some kind of ballad, but it’s literally indistinguishable from Cover Girl. Really, you guys, you’re taking everything bad about 50s music and incorporating it into your music. Stop it.
Luckily for me, they also imitated the short song lengths.

Singapore Nights is hardly note worthy at all. I honest to God can’t tell these songs apart. I’m surprised at the complete lack of variety and creativity. It just sucks.

Well, so far, Drive Good sounds… slightly different? Okay, never mind. By about 50 seconds, it’s even worse than the others. Partly because of Dynamite Tommy’s twin or whatever. But mainly because this band is so devoid of all sense of originality.

Yume no Big Machine… Apart from the song title making no sense…
Sigh.
Just sigh.

Well, here is track 12 out of 14. At this point, I feel like hurting someone. Honestly, I feel like punching the next person I see, just because I can.

Track 13: I’m homicidal. The next person I see, I will kill. I can’t fucking take this damn band! It’s like Barbee Boys all over again! Oh god, why am I being forced to relive that hell!

Track 14: Now I feel suicidal. Just kill me now, I can’t listen to another whole track. The only thing keeping me going is the thought, “Yes!! This is the last track!!”

Okay, you know what. No. No no no no no. I’m not even going to try. Black Cats, the last track, is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard.

1 out of 5
Fuck this band, fuck me for even downloading it.

Bitch Boys's "Continental"

Hey, after a long delay, here I am again. School just started so I haven't had the insane amounts of free-time to work on this useless, time-consuming waste of life.
So, welcome back, me!

Artist: Bitch Boys (Sweden)
Album: Continental

Track one is Arena, which I have heard many times before. Right from the beginning, I have always loved it. It’s an excellent opening track, everything is just perfect. It’s strange that I’ve never actually listened to the rest of the album, isn’t it?
Well, Arena is a very electronic instrumental, with heavy bass and some punk influences. It’s an interesting sound, I hope the following 9 songs can compare to Arena.

Café Cherie is track two, and it’s significantly more punk than Arena, although it’s still very electronic.
Again, it’s excellent. The vocalist is actually pretty decent. With punk bands, vocalists usually throw me off and make me kind of sick. I seem to have a lot of luck with Swedish punk bands, though.
Enough of my rambling, I really like it. It’s not quite as unique sounding as Arena; it’s a bit more of a typical sound that you’ll hear. But, it’s not boring, and it’s very fun to just sit down and listen to.

Continental reminds me a little bit of the old Megaman music. Jesus Christ, I need to stop comparing music to old Super Nintendo games.
It’s a little bit repetitive at times, but it has the same feel as Arena, so of course I like it.

Track four is Die Bahnhof Café (another Café song?). It starts with a Middle Eastern sitar sound with some explosive drums following. It’s a very interesting song, especially the chorus, which I’m absolutely in love with. I think so far this is my favorite.

It’s My Life is a strange little electronic song with nearly unintelligible English. That’s really it. I don’t really know what to think, it’s just bizarre.

Following that is Krieg. The vocals seem much deeper here, is that just me?
Fuck, it sounds like Megaman music again. I promised I would stop, I promised I would stop.
Apparently I’ve already heard this song before, because it’s rated. It’s probably an acquired taste, I can imagine that not a lot of people would like this. I, being the person I am, love it.

Track seven is Lebensraum. It’s very sinister and dark, which is an interesting addition to the album. The album is very eclectic; there are very happy songs and... this, which is slightly terrifying.
Lebensraum is delightfully evil, it’s quite the song and it leaves a great impression.

One thing I’ve noticed about this band: I adore their drums and guitar. Okay, the bass is great, too.
The album suddenly got very ominous, Mayday is very dark. Maybe not as dark as Lebensraum, but it’s dark nonetheless. It’s pretty slow and sort of watery sounding (if that makes sense).
I wish I could say more about the song, but nothing really comes to mind.

Mille Baiser picks up the speed again, and isn’t nearly as dark as the last two tracks.
I don’t know if a “normal” person would enjoy the vocals, but someone, you know, used to them wouldn’t even notice.
No, no, no, I’m not badmouthing the vocalist. I’m pretty content with his singing.
I have to say, I haven’t enjoyed Mayday or Mille Baiser as much as the previous tracks…
Well, let’s see how Tango For Two delivers.

I’m not really impressed by it until the chorus. But the chorus is so fucking catchy that I really do love it. It’s a very strange song, it skips around in pacing a lot, I’m not sure how to explain it. But, I really like it.

4 out of 5
Part of me thought it is a 3 and ½, on second thought, I know that 4 is perfect. I’m sure I’d have some disagreements, but that’s what I think it deserves.
Fans of Swedish punk music will have some fun with this.

Holy crap, it's not a review.

Just for the hell of it, here is a list of the remaining bands. Yeah, it's just in MSPaint, it's pretty sloppy. Tell me f I fucked anything up regarding the band's name or their country.

The List

Yeah, this is going to take a while.
You might have noticed that some of those bands are fairly well known (like Dream Theater, Sugizo, Kamelot) and I because I haven’t heard much of their work, I feel inclined to listen to it, even if I may have more bias than usual because of them being mainstream.
Also, some of these bands I fancy quite a bit (like Sandii, JULLAN, Morrie). There are just some that I haven’t heard all their material, or haven’t learned all of it by heart.

Beni Tokage's "Keshi no Hana"

Artist: Beni Tokage (Japan)
Album: Keshi no Hana

Alright, so Kuroi Ningyou Dukai is very low quality, it sounds so drowned out. Um, I’m not sure what I would classify this as…
Because it’s obvious they weren’t very popular, I’m giving the vocalist some leeway. He’s not very good.
That whole song sounds a bit sloppy, but I don’t dislike it. I don’t really like it either, though. I nothing it. They have potential, so let’s just go to track two and see what they do.

Asakusa ni Kaero u is a lot slower, and again, I’m not sure what kind of music this is. It’s not weird or all that unique or anything, I’m just undecided.
You know, it’s another, “I don’t really have much of an opinion” song. They’re decent enough at their instruments, the songs are nice and the vocalist isn’t that bad.
What is this feeling? I feel so… neutral!!

Uh-oh, a live version. The song is called Sexus, let’s see what happens. Sadly, their live recordings are the same quality as their studio songs. Both sound like their underwater, though.
God, I really am at a loss for words. This is a first for me.

King Dam catches my interest more than the others, probably because it’s a bit darker. The others songs have been surprisingly peppy. I suppose I like this one more than the others?

Track five is New Life, and it really just doesn’t interest me at all. And the vocalist is really not good in this one. This is without a doubt the worst so far.

I wonder if anything will really wow me on this album? I wonder if I’ll even like any of the songs on this album?
Well, based on Rokkindo-ru, the album is getting progressively worse. I don’t like it at all. In fact, it very, very annoying. Next song.

Leningrad Spy Band, okay now! Maybe we’ll have something interesting here?
Well… I guess it is. More than the others, at least.
Because of the terrible sound quality, it’s all very piercing and kind of painful to listen to.

Go! Go! Takushi… What a cute, happy title. And I guess the song is cute, too… in its own special way.
Really, the only thing I like are the keyboards, they’re pretty adorable.

Rock Kurititsuku is… is…
Um, why does the vocalist sound like he’s choking? It’s almost comedic. Okay, the album has taken a turn for the worst. Or maybe I should say the vocalist has really taken a turn for the worst.
The music itself is nothing special, though.

Well, here’s the last track, Private Tooku. Well, luckily it’s an instrumental, which is exactly what the band should do with all their songs. Unfortunately, it’s not interesting, really.


2 out of 5.
It’s not that bad, but it’s certainly not good. I was a little torn on the score because it’s decent enough that I’m sure plenty of people would really like it, but I just think it deserves a 2.