Yumi Yumi - 'Alchemy' (Velocity)
5/5
By: Samantha Hall
So, thinking that the 5,6,7,8s were the coolest thing to come out of Japan since Wagamamas and Hello Kittie? Think again. Yes, Jap electro-pop has always been f**king cool. Crazy hair, even more mental beats and kitschy, funky, truly danceable tunes equal fantastical artistes. Yumi Yumi are no exception.
So, two kooky girls from Kumanoto trundled their way to London for a holiday, armed with guitars and a multi-coloured thirst for retro rock, pop-punk and cyber-electro. They were discovered and adored and signed up to create their dream neon album in the unlikely location of Reading. On a return to Japan, their media profile increased and boom, boom trendy, iconic underground hip-shakers were born.
'Alchemy' is a wonder. Opening track 'You Let Me Down' pogos along with such E-number-fuelled energy, shaking, quaking, and bubble-sampled to the T. Whereas tracks like 'I Am Right' and '60 Years Old' present the more 'standard' kind of Tokyo girl-band material. You know the kind of stuff we're used to... the stuff that makes you do that strange bendy, dipping thing with your knees, that makes your eyes really smile and spreads an expression of bemused awkwardness across your whole upper-body - looking vaguely like that purple one from the Tweenies.
And who wouldn't want to look like that?
Artists in this article: Yumi Yumi
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