I randomly stumbled across Urichipangoon and was immediately impressed. They sometimes sound like a mix between Shugo Tokumaru and Sung-Tongs era Animal Collective and other times sound like a more organic Cornelius. They’re often wildly experimental in their instrumentation but stick to conventional pop wisdom with their melodies and the result is a compelling pop album.
Urichipangoon consists of Oorutaichi, Ytamo, Boredoms drummer Muneomi Senju and Kamei Naoko. I haven’t been able to dig up any info on Kamei Naoko, but the other members of the band have impressive backgrounds as musicians outside of Urichipangoon.
Together, Urichipangoon are more than the sum of their parts. Oorutaichi is oftentimes too experimental for my tastes, but here his experimentation spices up a collection of more accessible songs. Giant Club ranges from very accessible pop songs like ‘Terma’ and ‘Karma Blues’ – which will appeal to fans of early Phoenix with their bouncy drums and upbeat melodies – to ethnic weird-outs like the 8-minute opener Zenon.
Even at their most experimental, as on ‘Atlantis’, Urichipangoon’s vocal melodies are always catchy. ‘Atlantis’ features with a wildly detuned guitar intro, but gives way to a great vocal in the verse featuring Oorutaichi’s strong falsetto work. His melody here is unconventional, but memorable enough to get stuck in your head, making this one of the album’s best songs.
Muneomi Senju’s drumming is a key aspect of this album’s appeal. His rhythms groove the same way as Phil Selway’s drumming on Radiohead’s In Rainbows – his timing is rock solid and the drum sound is perfectly punchy. On ‘Openly, Secretly’, the drums provide a foundation for the rest of the band’s art-house keyboard improvising, maintaining the momentum of the song.
When Broken Social Scene released their breakthrough You Forgot it in People, they explained that they’d all been making more experimental music for years, and this was their effort at making a pop album. While Urichipangoon’s music certainly doesn’t sound like Broken Social Scene, they’ve got a similar achievement here. The band members all have a strong experimental background and have banded together to make something more accessible. Giant Club is full of great pop songs that are just challenging enough to be wonderfully compelling.
‘Giant Club’ can be purchased in North America through iTunes here: 
Videos:
Atlantis:
ウリチパン郡_アトランティス / Urichipangoon_Atlantis
Zenon:
【MyX 08.04】ゼノン / ウリチパン郡
Paya Paya:
ウリチパン郡 MyX EXCLUSIVE 1：パヤパヤ
