Japanese Band: Sokoninaru

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Sokoninaru are an "indie rock" band from Osaka.
Their early releases sounded like melodic 80s metal on speed, but since Shiyu (the drummer in this video) joined them, the more "experimental" side of their music took over.

The music is very complex, but unlike "prog metal" and what passes these days for "math rock", this music is unpretentious. This is three kids, very adept at playing their instruments, having a lot of fun (in the live videos you can see the drummer grinning while he plays like crazy).

This is a power trio in the full sense: three lead instruments playing together.
The music is very playful: there's a lot of start/stop ; both the guitar/bass and the two vocals do back-and-forth, harmonize, switch places ; there are sudden pauses... they just keep teasing you and trying to surprise you.
The drummer does a lot of fills, but also stuff like playing-on-the-rim or extra beats with the kick drum.

This is not a cynical band, but don't expect to be "emotionally touched": this is (an intellectual) sonic rollercoaster ; just go along and enjoy the chaos.

I'm sure the analog purists will have something to say about the production, but I like both the production and how their videos are made: they use the technology to accent the character of the music: if you have start/stop parts, the harsh cuts enhance the effect; if you have back-and-forth between the vocals, the hard panning makes it stand out ; the videos are minimalist and obviously made by someone who is intimate with the music, who knows what to show when.

Now, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride:


For anyone who wants to further investigate them, the singles from Tenohira De Odoru to kyokugen ha setsuna have the same style as this one. Of technical interest is the live version of their three-minute song, where (towards the end) you can see Shiyu using his left hand to open and close the high-hats, since his feet are busy with the double bass pedals (what I call a manual high-hat override...).

And since I came here because of compression: the more recent Saitei is an example of compression in full force. Just listen to those hissing high-hats!

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