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Blotto
Singles Collection 2004-2007 |
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The Predators
Hunting!!!
Released: 2005.07.06 (TMRD-0001)
Label: Three Mountain Records
Reviewer: James Route (2005.12.20) |
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Tracklist |
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01 - 爆音ドロップ (Bakuon Drop)
02 - Recall me
03 - Dizzy Life
04 - Sleepy Dragon
05 - ムスタング・ハッピー (Mustang Happy)
06 - Lizard Man
07 - Last Hunting |
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Review |
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It's been a long drought for many a fan of the pillows these past few years. Some trace the slow slide into the valley of mediocrity back to 2002's Thank You, My Twilight, some wistfully look back over their shoulders even farther. No question, then, that this small album from The Predators holds more significance than just that of a curious side project. Yet another supergroup, this three-piece brings together Nakayama Shinpei (from STRAIGHTENER) on drums, the star power of GLAY's Jiro on bass, and most importantly, the pillows' frontman and songwriter Yamanaka Sawao handling vocals and guitar. With the band conceived to perform simple, garage oriented rock, the idea of another Please, Mr. Lostman coming out of the woodwork was nothing more than wishful thinking, and far fetched wishful thinking, at that. Rest assured, Yamanaka isn't flexing his atrophying songwriting muscles here. Hunting!!! may be power pop of the non-brilliant kind, but thanks to a few consecutive years of underachieving by the pillows, its lean, 20-minute frame can at least hop the already lowered bar of expectations.
Hunting!!! leads with its unmistakeably radio-friendly track in "Bakuon Drop." There's nothing new at play here, certainly not the simplistic progression nor the familiar English-peppered Yamanaka vocals. Still, the chorus fits together well as a catchy foot tapper, with the vocals neatly interspersed with a quick, fuzzy riff. But then again, almost the same can be said for each track that follows, with only "Dizzy Life" and "Last Hunting" daring to change the formula with longer than usual instrumental sections, where Jiro plays the most exciting basslines he's probably ever had since joining GLAY.
That said, the reason this album lasts 20 minutes becomes clear: 30 minutes of the same song is just too much. Almost every track starts with a simple progression on the guitar, eventually leading to Sawao's upbeat singing in the chorus and some wacky English thrown in for good measure. After listening to the album five times or 25 times, nearly all the individual elements from one cut remain easily mistakable for that of another. Only "Bakuon Drop" maintains a clear outline in this haze of similarity.
Hunting!!! is not a long awaited-return to form for its chief songwriter, and while it may be easy to pick on, calling it outright terrible is a bit of an overstatement. This is, after all, supposed to be dumb, mindless fun. Turning on The Predators and turning off the brain isn't a bad way to spend twenty minutes, but for my money the band should have just released a three minute album called Bakuon Drop and called it a day. |
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