Me and Mary – Asobi Seksu
Sunshower – Asobi Seksu
It seems silly to complain too much about such a nice album, but I just can’t help myself. When listening to Hush, the latest record from Brooklyn’s pop/shoegaze hybrid Asobi Seksu I can’t help but wonder: what happened to the shoegaze part?
I mean, sure, it’s still dreamy and has more than a few moments punctuated by swirls and eddies. But when compared to 2006’s Citrus the whole thing feels a lot tamer. Where are the cascading waves of guitar, the machinegun rattle of the drums, the long meandering trails that seem to lead nowhere but take you into the heavens? What drew me to the band was the way their music sounded like an Impressionist painting. From too close, it might seem like mere splotches of paint with no form but from sufficient distance the colors and shapes emerge like magic.
Hush does not work in the same way. There is far more attention to detail, which produces much more intricate and textured music, but may come at the cost of the messy beauty found in the relationships between sounds.
Perhaps it’s not a fair complaint. There was something unique about the messy chaos on Citrus that worked for me far beyond expectations. And, like I said, it is still a very nice record – even if it feels a little too antiseptic for its own good.
“Layers” starts things off with care, offering a gentle introduction to the magic of Yuki Chikudate’s voice. It’s followed by “Familiar Light” – a pop gem that is beautiful from start to finish but which really grabs hold of you about 2/3 of the way through when the shoegaze comes to the forefront. The next few songs are pleasant enough but also are perfect examples of my concern: too much detail and not enough Sound.
Fortunately, “Sunshower” comes next and reminds us of just how good they are at this sort of thing. The perfect chorus, the huge guitars, the frenetic drums, all sealed up within a shimmery box.
The second half drags a bit, with no bad songs but also with none that leap out until “Me and Mary” which offers the best case for this newest incarnation of the band. Reviewing it late last year I said “it takes you dancing and swirling around corners at breakneck speed in a way that a million My Bloody Valentine retreads could never even imagine.” I stand by that. It’s one of the best songs they’ve put together and a sign that they can do this kind of thing and still tear the house down. It’s also telling that it’s the shortest song on the record. Where too much of Hush is devoted to build-ups that never burst, “Me and Mary” doesn’t mess around. It hits you full force right from the start and tosses you like a rag doll from verse to bridge to chorus and back again – no time for worries, or even for catching your breath.
That’s the way it’s meant to be done, and Hush would be a truly great album if it held onto a little bit more of that attitude over the course of the record.