OLDTIMER [オールドタイマー] CANARIA [LIVE]

I've been meaning to write about this for a long time but I just haven't gotten round to it. Why is that? Something you feel like you want to do sometimes turns into something you have to do, and I don't work well under obligations, even if they are self-made. It's weird isn't it. A choir of weird. But that's neither here nor there is it now. We can breathe and move on. Time has ticked and that is that.

I first wrote about OLDTIMER at the beginning-ish of this year, after (and about) the release of their My Girl EP. They actually took the time to send me a package with a cute note and a few copies of the CD - all of which were hand-illustrated. Naturally I have a lot of time for them. I heard them first on a live recording of their stuff, which had plenty of energy and noise to it, and this latest song goes in much the same way: energetic and noisy.

What are they? They're a self-described "indie rock band" from Tokyo, but I'd say they're like a shoegazing indie pop rock band. Not much difference I suppose except my definition is more specific. Now, if you can accept that, let's have a listen shall we?

Straight away you're thrown headlong into a high-energy fast-paced belter of a track. The drums gallop ahead, dragging everything behind it, with singer Lilia Masami's pretty vocals floating in the ocean of noise. The guitar has a fantastic sound - this is what I first noticed. It screeches along bending out of tune and creating a sound that is quite gloriously unsettling. Gives it a bizarre alternate-reality surf-rock vibe. Listen to it though. Great guitar, really. Leaves you reeling in the spaciest of ways.

The bassline is pretty magnificent, too, let's be honest. Against the noisy screams of the guitar, its smooth sound and complex notes give the song a jolly upbeat background. A piece of pop against a noise-art installation or something. The "doo-doo-do-do" vocals do something similar as well, as do the vocals in general, giving the song a pop feeling and contrasting with the un-pop guitar. Lovely. I had a feeling that they'd get even better, and they have.

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Listen to OLDTIMER on Soundcloud
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OLDTIMER [オールドタイマー] MY GIRL EP

Better late than never. It's a nice saying, especially for those who tend to do things later rather than sooner. Ahem.

A long time ago I came across a band from Japan called OLDTIMER - at that point all they had up on their SoundCloud page were a few live songs. But what was there sounded really good, brimmed with energy and all the like - just how GOOD live music should be. I liked it a lot, but there weren't any studio recordings. Then an EP appeared and they sent it over (air mail), for which I was really grateful. But then Yes/No Music tumbled and fell and lay there twitching...

... Fast forward a few months and here is OLDTIMER's My Girl EP in all its glory. It's full of promise and potential.

Starting at the start we have 'Caravan', an atmospheric and echoing track whose juddering guitars and clean drums wouldn't sound out of place at the end of the '80s, just outside Manchester. Spacey distorted guitars swoop in the background as the plucky bassline carries the song onwards and onwards. The break brings jangling distorted guitars back, sounding expertly 'Madchester'. Vocals are clean and unassuming, lending themselves to the aesthetic of the song.

The same vocals provide the hook in title track 'My Girl', with a lot of ooo-ooo-ooo'ing going on. This is a much poppier number - up-tempo, though still with the smack-you-in-the-face distorted guitars washing over everything. Just as with 'Caravan' the verses build to a peak where the chorus sits, providing the song with a rising/falling dynamic that feels nice on the old ears. There's a guitar solo in here that screams toward the end. It's a driving song, definitely. All you need is a road and some sunglasses.

Then, what a surprise this is. 'Slowly Decaying' is a veritable assault on the eardrums. Towering, endlessly clashing distorted guitar storms all around, almost like white noise. The vocals, soft and achingly plaintive, provide a huge contrast to the gigantic guitar. In the verse, though, guitars moan like low flying and jangle quietly off-balance. It's melancholy, slow, as shoegaze as you like. The drums crescendo towards the end, just what you want to hear: it's not a mad one till the drums are going mad too.

It's tantalising glimpse into what this band can do. Production-wise, they could go lo-fi - that's why I liked the live recordings so much, the raw nature of them suited the style perfectly. Other than that, it's a fine first EP - I look forward to the next.

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Listen to OLDTIMER on Soundcloud
Follow OLDTIMER on Twitter
Check OLDTIMER on Tumblr