When "goodbye" means very much "hello"
I wonder if you have already heard of Sayonara Ponytail? They are one of those experiment bands that pop up here and there over the net, sometimes get (more or less) popular riding the wave of its creators's myth often much more than the music they actually make.
In this particular case however, there are two differences. For starters, the group exists for some good time already, and rather than losing, it seems to be gathering popularity. Secondly, they are actually quite good.
The most probable way you may have come to know them (unless you are a frequent user of Japanese social media) is through the ending to Tsuridama - a pretty weird anime about an alien boy who came to Earth for fishing (let me assure you this is just a tip of an iceberg of absurd this show has in stock for you) that aired last summer. The song, conveniently called 「空も飛べるはず」 is actually... living up to its title. As in - nothing special. However, there is something nice and soothing about the girls' voices that perfectly fits the summer show.
There's also the part about the song NOT being a squeaky, noisy, bad fx-filled track most girlsband/anime music producers are feeding us with as an excuse for catchy.
That was why I googled the girls anyway.
And to my surprise, I found a pretty good group out there!
The first two albums were perfectly indie in every aspect, and I liked that, so it came almost as a threat to me when I found out they later released a bunch of well-taped PVs, and an album with two brand-new members. These things usually mean money, money means mainstream, and mainstream in this industry is usually nothing but businessmen butting in into perfectly good music. Which usually leads to flattening whatever style a band may have, for the purpose of making it digestible to more consumers.
Suprise again!
The newest album actually sounds just as good as the previous one. Apparently the girls got themselves a good deal, and/or a smart producer who actually knows a thing or two about making music, aside from making money. Of course that being said, the songs did get more mainstream-like, with instrumentation enriched and more mastering applied. But it still doesn't hurt the ear, and they seem to be marketed as indie. Which is preposterous when you think about it, but it saves the music for now, and that's the point.
Here's what I managed to gather for starters:
From the latest album:
A video for one of the older ones. Too bad it doesn't contain the cute sayoponi signature characters, but it still lets you enjoy the song.
In this particular case however, there are two differences. For starters, the group exists for some good time already, and rather than losing, it seems to be gathering popularity. Secondly, they are actually quite good.
The most probable way you may have come to know them (unless you are a frequent user of Japanese social media) is through the ending to Tsuridama - a pretty weird anime about an alien boy who came to Earth for fishing (let me assure you this is just a tip of an iceberg of absurd this show has in stock for you) that aired last summer. The song, conveniently called 「空も飛べるはず」 is actually... living up to its title. As in - nothing special. However, there is something nice and soothing about the girls' voices that perfectly fits the summer show.
There's also the part about the song NOT being a squeaky, noisy, bad fx-filled track most girlsband/anime music producers are feeding us with as an excuse for catchy.
That was why I googled the girls anyway.
And to my surprise, I found a pretty good group out there!
The first two albums were perfectly indie in every aspect, and I liked that, so it came almost as a threat to me when I found out they later released a bunch of well-taped PVs, and an album with two brand-new members. These things usually mean money, money means mainstream, and mainstream in this industry is usually nothing but businessmen butting in into perfectly good music. Which usually leads to flattening whatever style a band may have, for the purpose of making it digestible to more consumers.
Suprise again!
The newest album actually sounds just as good as the previous one. Apparently the girls got themselves a good deal, and/or a smart producer who actually knows a thing or two about making music, aside from making money. Of course that being said, the songs did get more mainstream-like, with instrumentation enriched and more mastering applied. But it still doesn't hurt the ear, and they seem to be marketed as indie. Which is preposterous when you think about it, but it saves the music for now, and that's the point.
Here's what I managed to gather for starters:
From the latest album:
A video for one of the older ones. Too bad it doesn't contain the cute sayoponi signature characters, but it still lets you enjoy the song.
Click to view