Bondage Fruit -
Bondage Fruit
1. Holy Roller
Opens up with some nice tribal rhythms that gives way to other instruments. The vocals on this track is giving me OOIOO and Music for 18 Musicians vibes and that's definitely not a bad thing. Track ends on kind of a flat note though. It's not abrupt or anything, it just didn't feel conclusive.
2. Arabia No Zou
More OOIOO vibes on this one, so I'm guessing at this point that the groups sound similar but with Bondage Fruit having more of a punk/noise rock edge to them. This isn't anything like I remember when I listened to them beforehand. Awesome harmonies and great drum rhythms. My favourite thing so far about the group is the percussion, even though the group altogether is pretty badass. One of the female singers is taking a solo that's a bit meh and operatic, but the rest of the instrumentation keeps badassing along so it doesn't detract from the track all that much. The guitar solo at the end is kind of cliched but it's by no means bad. Dude can shred. Better ending this time around.
3. Kodomo No Torokko
Kicks off with a cool drum solo, although it kind of sounds like someone's playing it on the keys. Jumps into some more Steve Reich worship. The vocalisations could use some lyrics imo, with a name like Bondage Fruit, I feel like they could write some lyrics that are at least passable. Is that a vocoder/autotune going on there? Never heard it used like that, it's pretty awesome. I dig these guys' sound, it focuses a lot on climax and building up the layers and variations as the song progresses. Some acoustic guitar interludes as well, though they don't work that much for this track. I would prefer if it was all Reichianism. I've gotta say though, the acoustic guitar solo is much much better than the electric solo in Arabia No Zou.
4. Rigo
More of the same, still liking it quite a bit though.
5. Octopus-Command
Man they really wear their Reich influence on their sleeve. This one's the heaviest track so far and it's also my favourite. Not the hugest fan of the guitarist's tone tbh, but what he's playing is ****ing awesome so it's no biggie. Really dig the Arabic influence on this track. There's a total change in direction partway through the track with a fretless bass/double bass solo that's jazzy but still very Middle Eastern before jumping right back into the heaviness that really gets kicking. Guitar gets super noisy with pick scrapes and other cool techniques while the whole band climaxes before they collapse into a short bell interlude. Then we get back into the hypnotic rhythms we heard earlier in the track. Ja, definitely my favourite track on the album so far.
6. Hikou Suru Ko
This track starts off very pretty with an acoustic guitars, cool percussion, and a vocal lead. I say vocal lead because in the earlier tracks, the vocals are integrated more into the other instrumentation as opposed to standing out and taking the lead. Really cool violin/cello/bass viola/tenor viola/whateverthe**** solo comes up a little bit into the track. This one has the most interesting use in percussion so far with the use of bells and cool off-time beat. We have a vocal solo in a language I don't understand and am too lazy to research that's pretty dope. If I was showing someone this band who I wasn't sure had a taste for the out there stuff, I think I'd play them this track even though I liked Octopus Command a lot better.
7. Kakuu No Sakana
Another acoustic introduction with a synth or other electronic instrument in there. This is another track that really jumps into a lot of layers. This is the mellowest track on the album by far, it's actually quite beautiful. Pretty cool.
8. Kinzoku No Taiji
There goes the (common standard of musical) beauty. Now we're at full intensity. That drummer(s? I can't tell if they're doing double drumming or not but they could be) really rules. Some cool Doctor Nerve melodies jump in after the heaviness secedes into just a rocking beat. I really wish that more of the album sounded like this track, the lighter tracks are pretty cool but this is more up my alley. Vocals are getting more shouty and somewhat similar to Mike Patton when he does his barks. These drums really kick some ass towards the end of the track, love it. Avant-prog guitars and orchestral blasts to boot. This overtakes Octopus-Command as my favourite track.
9. T-Rex
The song starts with some super sick squeaky sax and the heavier vibes that we were getting from Kinzoku No Taiji. We've got noisy guitars here and some more tribal drums here. Ja, if more of the album sounded like this I wouldn't have to point out which tracks I liked the best. We get a cool interlude with darkside drumming, repetitive guitars and what sounds like distorted voice, although that could be a keyboard. Awesome saxes on here, I wish that was more prominent throughout the record.
Final Verdict:
I loved the whole thing, but some tracks much more than others. If the whole album sounded more like tracks 5, 8, and 9 than the OOIOO style hypnotism I would like it a lot better though. Even though I wish it had gone another way, I still liked it quite a bit so I'll say 8/10 for this one.
If I had to set up a line up for these guys to play with, I'd go with
Doctor Nerve
Steve Reich
OOIOO
miRthkon
Panzerballett
Philip Glass
Frank Zappa & the Mothers