Some Sun
Got the Monday morning blues? Well if you're anywhere in the North-East, I'm not at all surprised. I know I do, and the rain rain rain rain ad infinitum certainly isn't doing anything to dissipate that feeling. But maybe this will help a little. Maybe even a lot.
Asobi Seksu (colloquial Japanese for "playful sex") returns with their second full-length album, Citrus twelve tracks of gorgeous, distortion and sunshine drenched indie rock - the record was recorded at Gigantic Studios in New York with producer Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, Calla, the Cloud Room). The band, fronted by Yuki on keyboard and vocals, James Hanna on guitar and backup vox, Haji on bass and Mitch Spivak on drums, has never sounded this good or as complete as they do here. Yuki's vocals, sung mostly in Japanese and sometimes in English, spend most of the time riding on clouds of distorted and massively delayed guitars and keys, sometimes at the forefront of the songs, others buried below the huge pile of swirling sound. It is, simply put, gorgeous. Truly.
Ok, so Citrus: it is a great record, with an equally beautiful package and design (when you see it you'll understand) - it really harkens back to prime mid-90s noisy indie rock - how many reviews of theirs will you see comparing them to My Bloody Valentine? Probably every single one of them because it jumps right out at you. But there's also traces of earlier goodies like Jesus & Mary Chain, and maybe a splash or two of Dinosaur Jr. - regardless of the comparisons critics will make to other bands, their sound is still very much their own, and the pop-magic that shines throughout the whole album will absolutely have you listening to it on repeat like I did.
Citrus comes out in a couple of weeks (May 30th) on Brooklyn's Friendly Fire Recordings, and you'll find the album on the band's own site, on FFR's site and at all your favorite retailers, indie, online, et. al. The band is doing a CD release show on Thursday, June 1 at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette St.), and there are tickets available on the venue's website or the box office - it will be worth seeing them play for sure, so get tickets early as it is likely to be a sold out show.