While they don’t take many risks on Fanfare to Nekkyou, Andymori expand their sound with horns on “1984″ and with a harmony-laden capella break during “Zutto Groupie”. Regardless, if you didn’t like their first album, you won’t find anything revelatory here.  Fanfare to Nekkyou is ultimately a refinement upon Andymori’s sound – which is a good thing in my books.

Andymori’s music is imbued with a sense of melancholy that always draws me back to one of my favourite American bands, Nada Surf. Both bands are fairly modest in their sonic ambitions – sticking to simple instrumentation and a focus on vocal melodies – and both bands create striking songs that get better and better with each listen.

Andymori’s strong songwriting and an incredible sense of melody push Fanfare to Nekkyou above the masses of indie-rock bands in Japan. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see them getting prominent displays at Tower Records and HMV and I think they could be on the verge of having a big hit. This success comes without any artistic compromise, though,as Andymori’s music is as potent as ever. Highly recommended.

Andymori on MySpace | Buy Fanfare to Nekkyou at HearJapan.

Andymori will be touring Canada in May as part of the Next Music from TOKYO!!! vol. 1 tour!

Here’s the schedule for the tour:

May 22   Vancouver @ the Biltmore Cabaret
May 25   Montreal @ il Motore
May 28   Toronto @ the Rivoli
May 29   Toronto (venue tba)

July 9  Tour finale in Tokyo, Japan @ Shibuya O-nest !!

Audio: “1984″

Videos:

Half of the album is frantic and urgent as if every moment must be filled with action.  Singer Sohey Oyamada fits so many syllables into each phrase that he sounds like he’s afraid of being cut off.  During ‘Everything Is My Guitar” Oyamada sings with a breakneck urgency – the one-long-shot, recklessly performed music video for this song is a good visual indicator of the sound.  The video is very much influenced by Weezer’s video for ‘Undone’.

The other half of the album is much more melancholy.  “Life is Party” evokes a sense of weariness and the band seems aware that their youth can’t go on forever.  When Oyamada sings the phrase “Life is party” in this song, it sounds like a mantra to get through slow days, rather than a call to action as in “Everything is my guitar”.  This sense of melancholy is reminiscent of Nada Surf, expressing a sort of resignation – but maybe rather than resignation, it’s better to call it a sense of acceptance.  Like, “This is how it is and I’m going to have to deal with it anyway, so I guess I’ll make the most of it”. Even in these slower moments, there’s a sense of youthful urgency – this is not a band that naval gazes and dwells on their defeats.

Andymori is a great pop band in the same way that Phoenix is a great pop band.  Their songs are succinct and melodic, and the band uses their considerable musical sense to write simple, memorable songs.  Like Phoenix, however, the songs have a considerable amount of depth under the surface – ensuring that the album stays interesting after repeat listens.  A perfect summer album – Highly recommended for fans of guitar based indie rock.

Link:
Digital download available at hearjapan.com.