Rock’n’Roll Party People and Yellow House Reviewed
Rock’n’Roll Party People – Konnichiwa, Sayonara
What would Japan have been like if the proud Western capitalists had simply left it alone as it had been intended? Would there still be Japanese over-tourism, and would J-powered pop culture be such an intense force throughout the world?
Probably not! The country would remain its own, and it would have been forced to carve out a cultural identity which would have rejected all other influences. Outside of the country, most of us would likely not even be able to understand it properly.
But it hasn’t worked out that way, and the results haven’t always been horrific. Pop-rock music, for example, is one language that we’ve all learned to use as a way of communicating with each other, and the Japanese have brought wonderful contributions to it.
That’s how you end up with a song like “Konnichiwa, Sayonara” from Rock’n’Roll Party People, an echo of the busy, lonesome city streets, and a sound that everyone who’s heard pop music will be able to understand. There are many things that make Rock’n’Roll Party People an interesting musical project, and one of the main ones is the way that American-styled rock n’ roll songwriting is processed and transformed here.
Yellow House – Fairgrounds
There’s no way around it. Life’s going to make you choose, and if you’re too scared to do it, then it’ll just pick something random for you and make you wish that you had never abstained in the first place. So, pick a side when you’re asked to do it.
There’s also no escaping the fact that rock n’ roll, a thing that so many of us love so deeply, is not going to help turn you into a lawyer, a businessman, or pave the way for you to run for office. It won’t if you do it right.
At some point, you’re just going to have to decide. Are you going to be one of those people who is successful at any cost? Or, is your rock n’ roll heart going to lead you to freedom and the truth? Yellow House know which way things are supposed to go.
It’s no accident that “Fairgrounds” sounds like it was recorded in the late 1960s. This is music meant to feel warm to the senses, supposed to echo Lou Reed at his most creative and designed to ask an important question: “Which side are you on?”
